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23  WEST  MAIN  biKiSr 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


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Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


□    Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

□    Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagde 

□    Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pellicul^e 

□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Q   Coloured  maps/ 
Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 

□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


n 


n 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serree  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout6es 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmdes. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mdthode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 

□    Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

□    Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

I — I    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 


Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pellicul6es 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxei 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachetdes  ou  piqu6es 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tach^es 


rT/f   Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
I      I    Pages  detached/ 


Q 


Showthrou<uh/ 
Transparence 


I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


D 
D 


Quality  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  matdriel  supplementaire 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  bs3t  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  filmdes  d  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


D 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires.- 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu6  ci-dessous 

10X                             14X                              18X                             22X 

26X 

30X 

J 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

Th«  copy  filmad  h«r«  has  b««n  raproducad  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

Library  Dillon 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


L'axamplaira  fllmi  fut  raproduit  grica  A  la 
gAnirosIt*  da: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


Tha  tmagae  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibillty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Itaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacifications. 


Las  imagas  suivantas  ont  4t*  raproduitas  avac  Is 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  tanu  ds  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattatA  da  raxamplaira  filmA,  at  an 
conformity  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
fllmaga. 


Original  copias  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  filmad 
baginning  with  tha  fror.t  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  iilustrstad  impras- 
sion.  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  n  printad 
or  illustratad  imprassion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  each  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Lss  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimie  sont  filmAs  en  commen^ant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  an  terminant  soit  par  la 
darnlAre  paga  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  las  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  fllmAs  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  at  an  terminant  par 
la  darniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
darnlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  la  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FiN  ". 


IMaps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  largo  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  In  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diffArents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
roproduit  en  un  soul  ciichA,  il  est  film*  A  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droits, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imagas  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrt:mme8  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

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TUE 


CENTRAL   GOLD  REGION. 


TUE 


GRAIN,  PASTORAL,  AND  GOLD  REGIONS 


OF 


N OUT  II    AM  Ell IC  A. 


WITH 


SOME  NEW  VIEWS  OP  ITS  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY;   AND 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 


BY 


WILLIAM    GILPIN, 

LAIE  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES   ARMV. 


Illuslrateb  bg  0ap8. 


^'} 


PHILADELPHIA: 

SOWER,     BARNES    &    CO. 

ST.  LOUIS:    E.K.WOODWARD. 

1860. 


W 


Entered,  accordiag  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1800,  by 

SOWKR,  lUHNES  &  CO., 

In  the  CTerk's  Office  of  Uie  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  ond  for  the  Eastora 
District  of  Teunsylvania. 


MIABS  *  DUBENBERT,  STEREOTYFEBg. 


Collins,  Printer. 


P  11  E  F  A  C  E. 


Everybody  is  acquainted  with  tlio  history  of  tlic 
American  people.  Their  coinmoinvealth,  comnuniced  at 
first  by  a  few  republican  families  voluntarily  exiled  from 
the  old  world,  is  now,  at  the  end  of  two  and  a  half 
centuries,  a  republican  empire  of  established  continental 
dimensions  of  policy.  Kcstricted  heretofore  in  its  deve- 
lopment, to  so  much  of  our  continent  as  belongs  to  the 
Atlantic,  a  point  of  progress  is  reached,  whence  our 
energies,  overOowing  towards  the  west,  expand  to  cm- 
brace  the  regions  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  establish  direct 
and  familiar  relations  with  Asia.  This  movement,  long 
in  preparation,  now  engages  so  large  a  force,  that  its 
advance  daily  acquires  volume  and  celerity.  Federal 
legislation,  to  progress  2^'^'^'^  ^)rt,s'.9?A  with  the  people,  is 
demandet^  upon  a  basis  to  give  ert'ect  to  the  great  central 
movement  resulting  from  their  energies.  A  liberal 
understanding  of  the  mission  of  our  people,  counsels  a 
genial  expansion  of  the  federal  system  to  the  grandest 
dimensions  which  their  energies  may  reach. 

I  have  condensed  into  a  small  volume,  the  memoranda 
and  reflections  suggested  by  a  residence  of  twenty  years 
in  the  wilderness,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  pioneer  people 
who  occupy  the  foreground  of  progress,  and  clear  open 
the  track  of  empire. 

(V) 


0  i  1 


I 


MlKFAfE. 


I  distingiiisli,  as  t1io  most  cssoiitial  prcstMit  ;^'roun(l  of 
(lovclt)f)rnont;  tlic;  interval  which  sepiirates  the  Missis- 
si])pi  Basin  from  tlio  Pacific  Ocean.  Tliis  defines  itself 
as  the  "Mountain  iSi/staii'^  of  our  j,'oo<,'raphy.  The 
magnitude  of  the  obstacles  which  it  opposes  to  the  forces 
of  j»r();.(ress  assembled  on  its  two  fronts,  sanctions  an 
apjxial  to  every  form  of  help  discernible  to  the  jiatriotic 
heart.  This  neediid  hel[)  is  in  short,  the  construction  of 
the  Conlincnlal  RailmniL 

Two  ausj)icious  elements  in  human  civilization  by 
their  rapid  growth  in  power  and  importance  fix  our 
attention:  the  indefinite  multii)lication  of  gold  coin, 
and  international  public  works.  These  two  elements, 
so  opcratinj^  as  to  mutually  .stimul'to  and  sustain  one 
another,  promise  to  enthrone  industrial  or;,'ani/,ation  as 
tho  ruling  principle  of  nations.  America  leads  the  host 
of  nations  as  they  ascend  to  this  new  order  of  civiliza- 
tion. Her  intermediate  geographical  position  between 
Asia  and  Kurope  and  their*  populations,  invests  her  with 
tho  powers  and  duties  of  arbiter  between  them.  Our 
continent  is  at  once  a  barrier  which  separates  the  other 
two,  yet  fuses  and  harmonizes  their  intercourse  in  all  the 
relations  from  which  force  is  absent. 

Iluman  society  is  then  upon  the  brinlc  of  a  new  order 
of  arrangement,  inspired  by  the  universal  instincts  of 
peace,  and  is  about  to  assume  the  grandest  dimensions. 
Fascinated  by  this  vision,  which  I  have  seen  appear  and 
assume  the  solid  form  of  a  reality  in  less  than  half  a 
generation,  I  discern  in  it  a  new  power,  the  People 
occupied  in  the  wilderness,  engaged  at  once  in  extracting 
from  its  recesses  the  omnipotent  element  of  gold  coin,  and 
disbursing  it  immediately  for  the  industrial  conquest  of 
the  world. 

William  Gilpin. 

Independence,  April  7th,  1860. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I 

OEOGRArmCAI.  MEMORANDA  ON  THE  VACIFIO    t.\;IROAO. 

Plan  of  North  American  Continent — Atlantic  slope— Basin  of 
the  Mississippi — Cordilleras  of  Sierra  Madre — Great  Plateau 
— Cordillera  of  the  Andes — Pacitic  slope— Plan  of  European 
Continent — Plan  of  Asiatic  Continent — American  RopuLlic 
to  expand  and  fit  itself  to  its  geographical  formation — Bril- 
liant future  before  it Page 


13 


CHAPTER  II. 

OEOGRAPnir.'.I.  MEMORANDA  ON  THE  I'ACIFIC  RAILROAD — Continued. 

Humboldt's  views — Natural  bed  for  a  railroad — Cordilleras 
pierced  by  great  natural  passes — Basins  of  the  Great  Plateau 
— Configuration  of  the  Great  Sierra  Madre — Platte  River — 


South  Pass — Columbia  River, 


23 


CHAPTER  III. 

GEOORAPmCAL  MEMORANDA  ON  THE  rACIFIC  RAILROAD Continued. 

Climate,  winds,   rains — Elevation  —  Productions — Commerce — 


Asia  and  its  manufactures — Jefferson — Astor — Monroe, 


34 


(vii) 


Vm  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  MOUNTAIN  FORMATION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA — THE  GREAT  TABLE- 
LANDS— GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES. 

Breadth — Length— Black  Hills — Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
Gold-producing  granite — Pares — Plateau  of  Table  Lands — 
Not  comprehended  by  the  American  people — Basin  of  City 
of  Mexico — Bolson  di  Mapimi — No  drainage — Sierra  Mim- 
bres — Basin  of  the  Del  Norte — Basin  of  the  Colorado — 
Cailou  of  the  Colorado — Basin  of  the  Salt  Lake — Basin  of 
the  Columbia — Basin  of  Frazer's  River — Delicious  climate  of 
the  Plateau — Its  fertility — Cordillera  of  the  Andes — Pacific 
Maritime  Front, 46 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  CORDILLERA  OF  THE  SIERRA  MADRE. 

Mountain  System  of  the  Globe — The  Andes — Their  length, 
altitude,  and  auriferous  wealth — Chain  of  the  Mother  Moun- 
tain— Its  rivers — Cailons — Mesas — Butes — Slanos — Bayous  or 
pares,  elevation,  breadth — Wind  River  Mountain — South 
Pass — The  Alps  and  their  pass — Lava  Plain  of  Snake  River — 
Bowl  of  the  Yellowstone — Plain  of  the  South  Pass — Sweet- 
water River — Table  Mountain — Placers  of  gold  and  precious 
stones — Northern  Pare  or  Bull-pen — Favorite  winter  home 
of  trappers — Streams,  meadows,  flowers,  groves,  &c. — Middle 
Paro,  mountain  spurs,  rocky  streams,  cloudy  atmosphere, 
Bnow-clad  summits — Long's  Peak — Southern  Pare — Pike's 
Peak — Mountain  barrier — No  transit — Bayou  St.  Louis — 
Sublime  scenery,  luxuriant  fertility,  agricultural  seasons — 
Valley  of  Kashmcre — Secondary  mesas  or  "slanos" — Level 
surface,  poor  soil,  rainless  atmosphere — Perplexity  of  public 
mind — Slano  Estacado  and  Slano  of  the  Balsifoeta — A  con- 
tinual terrace — Kansas  Basin, 57 


CONTENTS. 


IZ 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  PLATEAU  OF  NORTU  AMERICA. 


Ita  area  and  characteristics — The  column  of  central  progress 
— Plateaux  of  the  Old  World — Plateau  of  American  Table 
Lands  not  understood — Its  basins — Climate  uniformly  vernal 
— Fertility  of  soil — Grasses  make  natural  hay — Immense  herds 
of  cattle — Auriferous  granite  and  gold  placers — Irrigation — 
Prepared  for  an  immediate  dense  population — Its  physical 
characteristics  —  Geological  formation  —  Mineralogical  re- 
sources— Zone  of  civilization — Line  of  progress,     . 


CHAPTER  VII. 


TUE  SIERRA  SAX  JUAN. 


The  gold  and  silv  ■  production  of  the  \rorld — Auriferous  or 
gold-bearing  formation — Calcareous  formation — Iron,  copper, 
lead — Focal  culminations  of  the  Sierra  Madre — Pike's  Peak — 
The  Sierra  Mimbres — Mining  in  the  Andes — Stupendous 
efforts  of  the  internal  volcanic  powers  of  tho  globe — Abund- 
ance of  the  precious  metals — Cafion  of  the  Colorado — Gorgeous 
variety  of  scenery — Philosophy  of  metalliferous  deposits — 
"Great  North  American  Desert"  does  not  exist — Hum- 
boldt's views — The  Great  Plateau  the  seat  of  empire  of  the 
ancient  Mexicans — Remarkable  focal  culmination  of  the 
Sierra  Madre  in  the  Sierra  San  Juan — Tlie  column  of 
pioneers  upon  its  threshold, 


84 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  SOUTH  PASS  OF  AMERICA. 

Route  from  Pans  to  Pekin — Distance  and  time  reduced — The 
Plateau  and  two  Cordilleras  the  only  imiiedinients — Basin  of 
the  Mediterranean  and  Basin  of  the  Mississippi — The  former 
salt  water — The  latter  rich,  calcareous,  and  arable  soil — The 


X  CONTENTS. 

former  supported  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  millions — The  latter  capable  of  twelve  hundred  millions — 
Both  the  seats  of  empire  in  their  respective  continents — Both 
traversed  by  the  zodiac  of  civilization — The  South  Pass — Its 
shape,  size,  and  surface — Distance  from  Astoria  and  St.  Louis 
— The  only  pass  through  the  Mountain  Formation  hence  to 
Tehuantepec — The  great  trail  of  Ihe  buffalo  passes  through  it 
— Uninterrupted  passage  by  the  bed  of  great  rivers  both  to  the 
Adantic  and  Pacific — Uniformity  of  climate  from  sea  to  sea — 
The  great  Continental  line  of  empire  here — The  Pillars  of 
Washington, 98 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  GREAT  BASIN  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

Its  groat  river — Its  surface  a  rich  and  deep  sediment — Its 
climate — Line  of  timber — Line  of  grasses — Capacity  for  popu- 
lation— Geographical  centre  of  the  Basin  and  North  American 
Continent  at  same  point — Between  and  equidistant  from  the 
259,000,000  population  of  Europe  and  the  050,000,000  popu- 
lation of  Asia  and  Polynesia — Surface  of  Europe  descends 
outwards  from  its  centre — Also  of  Asia — Surface  of  North 
Amenip.  like  a  bowl,  gathering  and  centralizing  whatever 
enters  within  its  rim — The  Basin  of  the  Mississippi  the 
amphitheatre  of  the  world,       ....  .        .  Ill 

CHAPTER  X. 


PASTORAL  REGION. 

CJreat  Plains  of  America  not  deserts — The  Pastoral  Garden  of 
the  world — Its  surface  a  gentle  slope  to  the  east — Abounds  in 
rivers — Covered  with  thick  nutritious  grasses  and  swarming 
with  animal  life — Soil  not  sandy,  but  a  fine  calcareous  mould 
— Convenient  to  navigation — Climate  dry,  and  temperature 
even — Herbage  perennial,  edible,  and  nutritious  throughout 
the  year,  and  cured  into  natural  hay  upon  the  ground — Sup- 


CONTENTS. 


3U 


ports  one  hundred  millions  of  wild  cattle — No  fires  as  in 
prairies — Turkeys,  chickens,  water-fowl,  fish,  and  game  in 
great  variety,  abundant— Ample  proportion  of  arable  land 
fo  •  farms,  fuel,  building  materials,  &c. — Climate  favorable  to 
health  and  longevity — Animal  food  three-fifths  of  that  of  the 
human  family — IIow  produced  spontaneously — Very  little 
labor  necessary  for  support — Pastoral  agriculture  on  a  large 
scale  comparatively  a  new  order  of  industry  to  our  people — 
Destined  to  be  of  immense  importance, 120 

CHAPTER  XI. 

EXTENT  AND  CnARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  HEMP-GROWING  REGION  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES. 

The  Ilemp-Orowing  Region  of  the  United  States — Production 
of  hemp  in  1850 — Course  of  the  Missouri  compared  to  the 
Nile — Its  channel  destined  to  remain  the  most  thronged  in 
the  world — The  highway  from  Western  Europe  to  Oriental 
Asia — Similar  channels  in  ancient  times — Salubrity,  fertility, 
and  beauty  of  the  Hemp  Region — All  departments  of  produc- 
tion and  industry  thrive  in  it — Central  extension  on  the  line 
of  the  isothermal  zodiac  the  policy  of  tlie  founders  of  the 
Republic — Abandoned  by  Monroe,  and  for  thirty  years  after 
— Now  resumed — Independence  the  point  from  which  it 
starts — Prosperous  future  before  it 128 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  I'ARC  OF  SAN  LUIS;  THE  SIERRA  SAN  JUAN;  THE  SIERRA  LA  PLATA; 
THE  GOLD  FIELDS  OF  THE  "  PLATEAU  OF  NOHTH  AMERICA." 

Focal  point  of  the  Cordillera— Mining  for  gold  as  yet  confined 
to  the  mountain  flanks— True  region  of  the  precious  metals 
not  yet  reached — Gold  and  silver  found  in  mass  and  position 
— Accompanied  by  precious  stones— Metalliferous  character 
of  the  Sierra  Mimbres— Its  culmination  in  the  Sierra  San 


xu 


CONTENTS. 


Juan — Region  of  the  precious  metala  most  prolific  and  inex- 
haustible— Accoss  easy  and  by  a  familiar  highway — Great 
tide  wave  of  two  millions  people  annually  to  the  west,   •        .  138 


APPENDIX. 
I. 

Speech  of  Col.  William  Gilpin,  on  the  subject  of  the  Pacific 
Railway,  delivered  at  Independence,  Mo.,  at  a  Mass  Meeting 
of  the  citizens  of  Jackson  county,  held  Nov.  5,  a.  o.  1859,      .  145 

II. 

Proceedings  of  a  Mass  Meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Jackson 
county,  at  Independence,  on  the  5tli  of  November,  1849,  to 
respond  to  the  action  of  the  Great  National  Railroad  Conven- 
tion, held  in  St.  Louis  on  the  15th  day  of  October,  1849,        .  180 

III. 

pike's  peak  and  the  sierra  SA.V  JUAN. 

Extracts  from  an  Address  by  Col.  William  Gilpin,  delivered  at 
Kansas  City,  November  15th,  1858  ;  on  the  gold  production 
of  America  and  the  Sierra  San  Juan, 183 


THE 


CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


CHAPTER  I. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  MEMORAjSDA  ON  THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 


Inasmuch  as  the  general  mind  seems  willing  to  entertain 
with  favor,  and  judge  candidly  what  may  be  truthfully  said  of  a 
National  Railroad  to  the  Pacific,  and  everywhere  is  indi- 
cated a  growing  taste  for  whatever  may  solidly  enhance  the 
prosperity  of  our  continental  system,  I  have  condensed  into  these 
few  chapters  the  general  views  resulting  from  a  long  experience. 
On  a  subject  which  touches  so  profoundly  all  the  existing  rela- 
tions of  the  human  family,  connecting  three  continents  and 
uniting  together,  by  a  short  line  of  ten  thousand  miles,  the 
thousand  million  of  people  inhabiting  Europe,  America,  and 
Asia ;  which  short  line  traverses  the  middle  of  the  north  tem- 
perate zone,  perforating  nine-tenths  of  the  land,  the  population, 
the  production,  and  consumption  of  the  world :  I  say,  it  is  neces- 
sary for  one  who  will  write  with  dignity  upon  such  a  subject,  so 
faearchiug  and  omnipotent,  to  grasp  boldly  its  immense  scope 
of  matter,  to  rely  upon  solid  statistics,  to  face  and  brave  old 
opinions,  to  repudiate  the  rubbish  into  which  thousands  of  years 
of  staggering  and  abortive  efforts  have  submerged  it,  and  to  con- 

(13) 


14 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   KEQION. 


dense  it  to  the  tangible  form  of  propositions,  which  may  bo  prac- 
tically handled  for  a  final  solution. 

The  shortest  trail  whereby  the  local  works,  now  on  hand  and 
proposed,  may  be  understood,  the  public  judgment  matured,  and 
opinion  instructed  and  concentrated  for  action,  is  to  condense  by 
rigid  analysis,  and  draw  into  one  view  the  multitudinous  facts  of 
geography,  commerce,  politics,  and  progress  under  which  the 
American  people  are  so  rapidly  erecting  a  supreme  democratic 
republican  empire,  and  fitting  it  to  the  surface  of  the  northern 
American  continent  and  islands. 

And  Jirst,  must  be  emancipated  from  the  rlogmatic  European 
writers  (who,  with  procrustean  despotism,  rivo  up  all  other  por- 
tions of  the  globe  to  fit  their  own  pigmy  theories),  the  symmetri- 
cal and  sublime  geographical  plan  of  our  continent.  This, 
heretofore  veiled  from  the  public  mind  by  every  form  of  contor- 
tion, is  reducible  to  an  exact  system,  easily  understood  and 
eternal.  The  reverse  geographical  form  in  which  our  continent 
is  moulded,  the  contrast  of  all  the  others,  makes  a  new  and 
original  grandeur  of  society,  not  only  possible,  but  compulsory 
upon  us.  To  disinfect  ourselves  of  inane  nepotism  to  Europe  in 
other  things  as  we  have  done  in  politics,  to  ponder  boldly  on  our- 
selves and  our  destiny,  and  develope  an  indigenous  dignity — to 
appreciate  Asiatic  science,  civilization,  commerce,  and  popula- 
tion— these  are  essential  preparatory  steps  to  which  we  must  tone 
our  minds. 

This,  then,  is  the  simple  plan  of  North  America : — The 
Andks,  having  traversed  the  whole  length  of  South  America, 
passing  out  from  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  continue  to  follow, 
unchanged  in  character,  the  Pacific  shore  of  North  America 
clear  up  to  Bhering's  Straits.  Known  successively  as  the  Cor- 
dilleras of  Anahuac  in  Mexico,  Sierra  Nevada  in  California,  and 
Cascade  Mountains  in  Oregon,  it  is  all  along  the  same  auriferous 


MEMORANDA  ON   THE   PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 


15 


aad  volcanic  Andes,  having  a  narrow  base  wa.«licd  on  the  west  by 
the  tido,  immense  altitude,  summits  of  perpetual  snow,  and 
formed  of  the  columnar  vulcan  rock,  or  a  molten  mass  of  lava. 
Between  this  continuous  escarpment  of  rock  and  the  sea,  is  the 
maritime,  region  of  the  Pacific,  which  contains  all  the  present 
American  population  residing  in  California  and  Oregon,  upon  the 
smaller  rivers  running  directly  into  the  sea,  and  parallel  to  one 
another.  It  resembles,  and  is  the  counterpart  of  the  maritiine 
Atlantic  declivity,  which  contains  the  old  thirteen  states,  and 
which  is  shut  off  from  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  St. 
Lawrence  by  the  Alleghanies.  But,  at  the  Isthmus  of  Tchuan- 
tepec,  the  Andes  bifurcates,  throwing  along  the  coast  of  the 
Mexican  G"lf,  the  great  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  which 
opening  rapidly  from  the  Andes,  as  the  continent  widens,  and 
assuming  in  our  territory  the  name  of  Rocky  Mountains,  tra- 
verses north  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  sea,  being  some  fourteen 
hundred  miles  apart  from,  and  to  the  east  of  the  Andes,  and 
forming  the  primary  divide,  the  "  divortia  aquarum"  of  America. 
The  absolute  separate  existence  of  these  two  prodigious  Cordille- 
ras, must  remain  distinctly  in  the  mind^  if  anybody  intends  to 
understand  American  geography — the  interval  between  them 
from  end  to  end  is  occupied  by  the  Plateau  of  the  table  lands,  on 
which  are  alike  the  cities  of  Mexico,  Chihuahua,  and  the  Mor- 
mon city  of  the  Salt  Lake.  This  plateau  of  the  table  lands  is  two- 
sevenths  of  the  surface  of  Is  Tth  America,  is  some  6000  feet 
elevated  above  the  external  oceans,  and  gives  as  complete  a  sepa- 
tion  between  the  Cordilleras  on  the  flanks,  as  does  the  Atlantic, 
whose  waters  "roll  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Alps. 

Thus  that  side  of  the  American  continent  which  may  be 
defined  to  front  «!^sia,  and  sheds  its  waters  in  that  direction, 
has  these  four  characteristic  divisions: — the  maritime  front;  the 
Andes;  the  Plateau  of  the  table  lands;  and  the  Sierra  Madre, 


IG 


THE    CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


all  extending  the  whole  length  from  south  to  north,  parallel  to  one 
another,  and  covering  in  the  aggregate  two-fifths  of  its  whole  area. 
The  remaining  three-fifths  of  the  continent  sheds  its  waters 
towards  the  Atlantic.  Here  too  the  same  sublime  grandeur  and 
simplicity  of  plan  is  discernible.  From  the  Sierra  Madre,  the 
whole  continent  descends  to  the  seas  by  immense  planes,  resem- 
bling the  glacis  of  a  fortress,  or  a  flattened  octagonal  house  roof. 
This  plane,  once  the  bed  of  immense  oceans,  of  which  the  Sierra 
Madre  was  the  shore,  and  bevelled  by  the  action  of  the  watery 
mass,  now  forms  the  gentle  slope,  down  which  descend,  to  re- 
plenish the  oceans,  the  surplus  waters  of  the  Sierra  Madre  and 
the  plane  itself.  Guttered  everywhere  by  these  descending  water- 
courses, seaming  its  surface  as  innumerably  as  the  veins  which 
carry  back  the  blood  to  the  human  heart,  these  aqueoul  channcla 
flow  down  the  different  faces  of  the  great  plane,  proportioned  in 
length  and  size  to  the  distances  to  be  traversed.  Thus  down  the 
smaller  face,  which  fronts  the  Mexican  Gulf,  at  present  compre- 
hended in  Texas,  run  the  lower  Del  Norte,  the  Nueces,  Colorado, 
Trinity,  and  Brasos.  Down  the  grand  eastern  front,  called  by  ua 
the  "  Great  Prairie  Plains,"  descend  the  Red  river  of  Louisiana, 
the  Canadian,  Arkansas,  and  Kansas  j  the  Platte  (with  its  three 
forks),  and  the  sublime  Missouri  itself:  all  of  these  running  due 
east,  parallel  to  one  another,  very  straight  and  without  rapids,  are 
receiyed  into  the  great  central  troxujh,  the  Mississippi,  which  runs 
from  north  to  south  across  their  direction,  and  their  accumu- 
lated waters  are  discharged  into  the  gulf.  From  the  same  focal 
point  with  the  Missouri,  radiate  two  fronts,  the  one  drained  by 
the  system  of  rivers  tributary  to  the  Saskatchewan,  opening  to 
the  north-east,  and  widening  to  embrace  the  immense  inland 
sea  of  the  Hudson's  Bay ;  the  other  upon  ^the  Athabasca  oi 
McKenzie  river,  sloping  due  north,  and  occupying  the  vast 
hyperborean  region  stretching  to  the  Arctic  Sea.     From  an  ele- 


MEMORANDA  ON    THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


17 


rated  swell  in  the  plane  bctwoon  the  Missouri  and  Saskatchewan, 
protruding  from  the  Sierra  Madre  eastwardly  along  the  forty-ninth 
degree,  about  700  miles,  issue  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi and  St.  Lawrence.  The  first  goes  directly  south  to  scour 
out  the  trough  of  the  continent.  The  latter  flows  down  the  nar- 
row basin  of  the  lakes  and  their  river  St.  Lawrence,  to  where  the 
glacis  reaches  the  sea,  and  forms  the  shores  of  the  gulf  of  that 
name. 

Thus,  from  the  dividing  wall  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  conti- 
nent descends  uninterruptedly  to  the  gulf,  the  North  Atlantic, 
and  the  Arctic  Seas.  The  perfect  gentleness  of  this  descent, 
scarcely  di.stingulshable  from  a  level,  is  perceptible  from  the 
rivers,  which  are  entirely  free  from  rapids  and  everywhere  navi- 
gable when  water  is  sufficient  in  their  beds.  The  sublimest 
example  is  the  watery  surface  of  the  Missouri,  whose  liquid 
plane,  dipping  by  perhaps  thirteen  inches  to  the  mile,  has  an 
unruffled  uniformity  of  descent  through  its  whole  course  of  5000 
miles  to  the  sea. 

But  to  render  complete  this  geographical  delineation,  there 
rises  all  along  the  Atlantic,  and  parallel  with  its  shore,  the 
dividing  range  of  the  Alleghany,  uninterrupted  from  Baton 
Rouge  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  External  to  this  is  the 
narrow  seaboard  declivity  which  first  received  the  European  set- 
tlements, and  still  holds  the  densest  population  j  but  within,  a 
reverse  glacis  descends  tt)  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  filled 
with  states  to  the  central  trough  of  the  continent.  Practically, 
the  basins  of  these  great  rivers  are  narrowed  to  mere  passes  at 
their  mouths  by  the  points  of  the  mountain  chains  which  fence 
them  from  the  sea,  expanding  to  an  immense  breadth  in  the  inte- 
rior, and  fading  into  one  another,  where  they  touch,  by  prairie 
divides  of  imperceptible  elevation.  They  form  together  one  vast 
bowl,  whose  waters  flow  from  the  circumfereuce  near  the  seas, 


18 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  BEOION. 


inwards,  to  centres  which  arc  near  and  already  connected  by  art 
aa  at  Chicago.  This  bowl  or  pliiiii  is  everywhere  calcareous,  being 
paved  beneath  the  soil  with  an  undulating  covering  of  limestone, 
as  is  a  frozen  lake  with  one  of  ice. 

To  recapitulate  and  grave  it  upon  the  mind,  as  with  the  style 
wherewith  the  artist  cuts  into  steel  the  deeply  shaded  lines  of  a 
picture,  the  whole  Atlantic  side  of  the  continent  is  one  calcareous 
plain  of  many  fronts,  each  front  having  a  mighty  system  of  arte- 
ries, demonstrating  its  gradual  slope,  and  carrying  its  surplus 
waters  to  the  sea ;  and  yet  by  the  rising  of  the  eastern  halves  of 
the  basins  against  the  Atlantic  barriers  it  is  also  a  sublime  bowl, 
iuto  which  the  waters  have  first  a  concentric  direction,  as  they 
accumulate  into  the  troughs  that  conduct  them  to  the  sea.  The 
superlative  wonder  about  this  is,  that  here,  in  North  America,  is 
rolled  out  in  one  uniform  expanse  of  2,300,000  square  miles,  an 
area  of  arable  land  equivalent  in  surface  to  the  aggregate  of  the 
valleys  of  the  other  continents,  which  arc  small,  single,  and 
isolated.  Moreover,  the  interlacing  of  the  rivers  forms  every- 
where a  complete  system  of  navigation,  blended  into  one  by 
public  works  of  the  easiest  construction,  and  forming,  by  their 
double  banks,  a  shore  line  equal  in  extent  to  the  coasts  of  all  the 
oceans. 

To  master  the  geographical  portrait  of  our  continent  thus  in 
its  unity  of  system,  is  necessary  to  every  American  citizen — as 
necessary  as  it  is  to  understand  the  radical  principles  of  the 
Federal  Government  over  it,  and  of  political  society.  Our  coun- 
try is  immensely  grand,  and  to  understand  it  in  its  simple 
grandeur,  is  not  an  extravagance,  but  is  a  homespun  matter-of- 
fact  duty.  If  we  flinch  from  this  duty,  we  recede  from  the 
dirine  mission  chalked  out  for  us  by  the  Creator's  hand,  sink 
below  the  dignity  of  our  ancestors,  and  fall  into  the  decrepitu  le 
of  the  voluntary,  illiterate,  and  emasculate  subjects  of  Europe. 


MEMORANDA  ON   THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 


10 


To  enforce  these  truths  with  yet  greater  stringency,  and  to 
tempt  or  la.Nh  the  popular  niiud  out  of  its  cringing  and  criminal 
torpidity,  still  another  illustration  remains  of  the  paramount  sig- 
nificance to  us  of  geographical  facts.  This  is  the  contrast  between 
0  ir  own  and  the  other  four  continents. 

Europe,  the  smallest  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the  land,  con- 
tains in  its  centre  the  icy  masses  of  the  Alps  j  from  around  their 
declivities  rudiate  the  largo  rivers  of  that  continent.  The 
Danube  directly  east  to  the  Euxino ;  the  Po  and  llhone  south  to 
the  Mediterranean;  the  Rhine  to  the  Northern  Ocean.  Walled 
off  by  the  Pyrenees,  and  Carpathians,  divergent  and  isolated,  are 
the  Tagus,  the  Elbe,  and  other  single  rivers,  affluents  of  the 
Baltic,  the  Atlantic,  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Euxine.  Descend- 
ing from  common  radiant  points,  and  diverging  every  way  from 
one  another,  no  intercommunication  exists  between  the  rivers  of 
Europe ;  navigation  is  petty  and  feeble ;  nor  have  art  and  com- 
merce, during  many  centuries,  united  so  many  small  valleys, 
remotely  isolated  by  impenetrable  barriers.  Hence  upon  each 
river  dwells  a  distinct  people,  differing  from  all  the  rest  in  race, 
language,  habits,  and  interests.  Though  often  politically  amal- 
gamated by  conquest,  they  again  relapse  into  fragments  from 
innate  geographical  incoherence.  The  history  of  these  nations  is 
a  story  of  perpetual  war,  of  mutual  extermination ;  and  an 
appalling  dramatic  catalogue  of  a  few  splendid  tyrannies,  crush- 
ing multitudinous  millions  of  submissive  and  unchroniclod  serfs. 

Exactly  similar  to  Europe,  though  grander  in  size  and  popula- 
tion, is  Asia.  From  the  stupendous  central  barrier  of  the  Ilim- 
malehs  run  the  four  great  rivers  of  China,  due  east,  to  discharge 
themselves  beneath  the  rising  sunj  towards  the  south  run  the 
rivers  of  Cochin  China,  the  Ganges  and  the  Indus  j  towards  the 
west,  the  rivers  of  the  Caspian  j  and  north  through  Siberia  to 
the  Arctic  seas,  "'  iny  rivers  of  the  first  magnitude.     During 

B 


'}* 


20 


THE  CENTRAL  OOLD   IlEOrON. 


fifty  conturk'j",  ns  now,  the  Alps  and  lliiiuiluya  luountuins  have 
proved  insuperable  barriers  to  the  anuilj^iiniatioa  of  the  nations 
nroujid  their  bases,  and  dwelling;  in  the  valleys  which  radiate 
from  their  slopes.  The  continent  of  Africa,  as  fur  as  wo  know 
the  details  of  its  surface,  is  even  more  than  these  split  into  dis- 
jointed fragments.  Such  also,  in  a  less  degree,  is  South 
America. 

Thus,  whilst  Northern  America  opens  towards  heaven  in  an 
expanded  bowl  to  receive  and  fuse  harmoniously  whatever  entcra 
within  its  rim ;  so  each  of  the  other  continents  presenting  a  bowl 
reversed,  scatters  everything  from  a  central  apex  into  radiant  dis- 
traction. I'olitical  empires  and  .societies  have  in  all  ages  con- 
formed themselves  to  these  emphatic  geographical  facts.  The 
American  Ilepublic  is  then  prcdesdnrd  to  expand  and  flt  itself 
to  the  continent.  Much  is  uncertain,  yet  through  all  the  vicis- 
situdes of  the  future,  this  much  of  eternal  truth  is  discernible : 
In  geography  the  antithesis  of  the  Old  World,  in  society  it  ia 
and  will  be  the  reverse.  Our  North  America  will  rapidly  attain 
to  a  population  equalling  that  of  the  rest  of  the  world  combined ; 
forming  a  single  people,  identical  in  manners,  language,  customs, 
and  impulses  :  preserving  the  same  civilization,  the  same  religion ; 
imbued  with  the  same  opinions,  and  having  the  same  political 
liberties.  Of  this  we  have  two  illustrations  now  under  our  eye : 
the  one  passing  away,  the  other  advancing.  The  aboriginal 
Indian  race,  amongst  whom,  from  Darien  to  the  Esquimaux,  and 
from  Florida  to  Vancouve/s  Island,  exists  a  great  identity  in 
their  hair,  complexion,  features,  stature,  and  language.  And 
second,  in  the  instinctive  fusion  into  one  language,  and  one  new 
race,  of  immigrant  Germans,  Knglish,  French,  and  Spanish,  whose 
individuality  is  obliterated  in  a  single  generation  ! 

It  is  thus  that  the  holy  question  of  our  Union  lies  in  the 
bosom  of  nature)  its  perpetuity  in  the  hearts  of  a  great  demo- 


MEMORANDA  ON   THE  PACIFIC  nAILUOAD. 


21 


oratlc  people,  iinbuod  with  nn  un(lor.st:iii(lin<^  and  nustoro  revo- 
ronoc  for  licr  eternal  proniiitiii<:s  and  oriliniinccs:  it  Uch  not  in  the 
trivial  temporalities  of  political  taxation,  African  slavery,  local 
power,  or  the  nostrums  of  orators  however  eminent.  It  is  the 
truth,  established  by  uri'rnre,  and  not  the  deductions  of  metaphy- 
sics, with  which  the  people  must  fortify  themselves. 

As  power  resides  in  the  people  and  the  suffra<ji'.  is  its  cxerci.'ie, 
with  them  also  must  reside  intellij^ent  and  wi.so  counsel.  To  be 
certain  that  the  great  principles  on  which  they  rely  to  strcni^then 
and  perpetuate  human  rij^dits,  are  the  truthful  deductions  of 
exact  science,  and  in  harmony  with  nature,  is  the  individual  duty 
of  the  citizen.  To  reject  what  is  otherwise,  ia  the  only  safety 
from  usurpation  and  tyranny.  To  assert  that  the  ma.s9  are  dcti- 
cicnt  in  intelligence  to  comprehend  and  use  familiarly  the  truth 
of  science,  is  the  language  of  tyrants  and  perfectly  false.  Behold 
an  eternal  example  of  universal  dissemination  and  familiar  u.se 
of  scientiQo  truths.  The  alphabet  of  tiointy-six  letters  and  the 
numerals  of  tea  figures,  are  the  most  profound,  condensed,  and 
sublime  forms  of  abstract  truth  which  science  has  or  can  give  to 
the  human  race.  How  many  ages  and  how  great  a  mass  of  intel- 
lectual analysis  and  research  consumed  itself  to  reach  this  abstract 
quintessence  of  truth,  have  not  come  to  us  with  the  inventions 
themselves.  At  sight  of  a  volume  printed,  or  a  newspaper,  the 
intelligent  savage  is  crushed  with  a  sense  of  despair,  not  knowing 
that  a  few  years  of  study  will  render  intelligible  to  him  this 
mass  of  chaotic  mystery.  The  child  of  civilized  society,  on  the 
contrary,  commencing  with  the  alphabet  which  st'.ace  has  dis- 
covered and  bequeathed,  combines  letters  into  syllables,  syllables 
into  words,  words  into  sentences,  and  has  opened  to  him,  by  an 
easy  ascent,  the  knowledge  which  written  language  has  accumu- 
lated and  perpetuated  since  its  invention,  some  thousand  years 
ago.     Believing  that  abstract  truths,  wherever  reached  in  other 


22 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REOION. 


dspartracnts  of  human  affairs — as  for  instance  in  geography — may, 
in  like  manner  as  the  alphabet,  be  universally  received,  trustecl, 
and  used  by  the  people,  I  have  written  these  remari.s  and  con- 
structed the  map  which  accompanies  them.  They  agree  with 
the  speculations  of  the  scientific  writers  whom  I  have  been  r.ble 
to  consult,  especially  Humboldt  and  Jefferson.  If  this  abstract 
of  simple  geographical  elements  be  truth,  then  should  they  stand 
the  basis  of  political  reason,  as  the  ten  commandments  stand  in 
the  field  of  religion.  Admitted  to  be  true,  the  future  of  the 
American  republic,  expanding  to  fit  the  continent,  as  the  human 
foot  within  a  shoe,  and  brightening  the  world  with  its  radiance, 
is  familiarly  discernible.  The  general  continental  geography, 
tilling  up  the  details  of  its  surface,  as  the  flesh  and  muscles  cover 
the  human  skeleton,  will  readily  be  conceived  in  the  mind,  and 
assume  order  and  symmetry.  Variety  of  climates  and  of  altitude  j 
the  consequent  distribution  of  industry;  the  immense  commerce 
whi-ih  will  adjust  the  interchanges  of  so  vast  a  surface  so  va- 
riously occupied ;  the  union  by  public  works  of  the  fluvial  arteries 
descending  opposite  slopes;  the  connections  with  the  external 
continents ;  and  the  forms  of  states,  rising  consecutively  till  they 
shall  number  one  hundred  ;  all  these  successive  events  become 
the  current  creations  of  a  natural  order  of  progress,  and  will  be  the 
easy  deductions  of  exact  calculation  of  time  from  statistical  data. 
To  come  finally  to  solve  the  question  of  the  construction  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  it  is  necessary  to  analyze  the  present  condition 
of  commerce,  both  of  our  own  and  external  countries ;  how  far  it 
is  friendly  or  hostile  to  the  immense  modifications  such  a  new 
route  will  engender;  to  probe  the  temper  and  force  of  political 
power  and  jealousies;  to  reason  out  and  balance  the  friendly  and 
hostile  elements  that  bear  upon  it ;  and,  finally,  to  subject  to  the 
most  searching  scrutiny  the  topographical  character  of  the 
iiamensc  space  of  our  continent  interrupted  by  the  <<  Plateau 


MEMORANDA  ON    THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


23 


of  the  Table  Lands;  the  great  mouatuin  ranges  of  the  Sicrru 
Madre,  and  the  Andes,  with  their  external  slopes.  To  such  a 
complete  discussion,  this  is  preliminary. 


CHAPTER  II. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  MEMORANDA  ON  THE  rACIFIC  RAILROAD.— 

C'onlinued. 

I  HAVE  mentioned  ia  the  preceding  chapter,  in  which  I  endea- 
vored to  delineate,  in  a  condensed  form,  the  abstract  geographical 
elements  of  our  continent,  that  I  had  compiled,  with  great  labor, 
a  map,  exhibiting  to  the  eye,  as  it  vrere  in  daguerreotype,  what  is 
so  dificult  to  make  comprehensible  in  writing  to  the  popular 
mind.  In  truth,  this  simple  classification  has  long  ago  suggested 
itself  to  me,  resulting  from  observations  made  and  facts  collected 
during  immense  journeys,  which  I  have  made  out  to  the  rim  of 
the  continent,  on  all  its  coasts — sometimes  as  a  solitary  pioneer, 
and  at  others  in  the  military  service.  Those  wanderings  have 
extended  over  fifteen  years  of  time,  and  more  than  forty  thousand 
miles !  Uncertain  as  to  the  accuracy  of  these  facts,  long  rendered 
indistinct  and  hazy  by  the  vastness  of  the  details — finding  myself 
everywhere  repelled  by  she  soi-dtsant  learned  in  science  and 
politics;  and  being,  also,  without  the  pecuniary  means  to  reach  the 
people,  it  is  only  now  that  1  venture  to  appear  before  them. 
Neither  do  I  rely  upon  my  oivn  reflections  exclusively.  The  world 
has  lately  received  from  the  learned  Humboldt  his  two  works, 
"Cosmos"  and  ''The  Aspects  of  Nature."  This  pre-eminent 
veteran  in  science,  commenced  sixty  years  ago,  to  hive  and  con- 
dense the  truths  that  he  now  gives  us  in  these  small  volumes. 
Nine  years  were  then  given  by  him  to  exploration  and  study  among 


^1 


JlfT 


24 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


the  Andes  of  South  America  and  3Ioxico,  and  subsequontlj  tea 
ycai^  among  the  Ilimmalayas  of  Central  Asia.  It  is  only  now,  at 
the  ago  of  eighty  years,  that  he  ventures  to  give  to  the  world  the 
condensed  quintess;cnce  of  a  whole  life  of  travel,  intense  study, 
rigid  analysis,  and  meditation.  Though  not  clearly  known  to 
him  (for  he  has  not  visited  our  country,  or  been  able  to  collect 
the  material  to  supply  this  deliciency,  from  others),  he  has,  in  his 
delineations  v(  Peru  and  Mexico,  exactly  sketched  our  own 
Andes  in  California  and  Oregon.  His  descriptions  of  the  great 
plateaux  of  Central  Asia,  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  Thibet,  with 
their  surrounding  mountain  chains,  applied  to  our  continent, 
solve  for  us  the  enigma  of  our  own  geography.  Indeed,  if  the 
continent  of  A"ia  be  turned  at  right  angles,  so  that  Siberia 
should  face  the  rising  sun,  it  would  almost  exactly  resemble  and 
explain  all  North  America  included  between  the  trowjli  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Pacific.  In  short,  in  these  small  volumes — 
"Notes  on  Virginia"  and  "Cosmos,"  of  the  brave  apostles  of 
truth,  Jefferson  and  Humboldt — in  these  we  hn.ve  condensed  facts 
enough  to  guide  us  to  the  most  distinct  and  perfect  solution  of 
the  whole  scheme  of  our  ON/n  continental  geography. 

To  resume,  then,  the  discussion  of  geographical  facts,  and 
approach  cautiously,  step  by  step,  the  location  made  by  nature  for 
the  Continental  Railroad,  vre  must  have  clearly  in  the  mind 
the  great  central  crest  of  the  Sierra  Madrc,  and  the  two  sides  of 
the  continent  sloping  on  either  hand  to  the  oceans.  Very  many 
great  rivers,  bursting  from  the  eastern  mountain  flank,  descend, 
without  rapids,  by  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf;  by  the  St.  Law- 
rence to  the  North  Atlantic.  Even  the  Alleghanies,  having  but 
2000  feet  elevation,  present  but  a  secondary  obstacle.  Abundant 
routes  exist,  thcrr.f  ire,  wheroby  a  railroad  may  pass  up  from  the 
cas<^'3rn  coast  line  of  the  continent  to  the  flanks  of  the  Sierra 
Madre.     Whatover  slight  elevations  may  exist  in  the  general 


MEMORANDA   ON   THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


25 


surface,  tlicy  are  all  perforated  successively  by  continuous  rivers, 
whose  banks  offer  water  grades,  uninterrupted  during  tlic  whole 
ascent.     No  difficulty  here  presents  itself. 

But  "that  side  of  the  American  continent  which  may  bo 
defined  to  front  Asia,  and  sheds  its  waters  in  that  direction,  has 
these  four  characteristic  divisions :  the  maritime  front,  the  Andes, 
the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands,  and  the  Sierra  Madre;  all  extend- 
ing the  whole  length,  from  south  to  north,  parallel  to  one  another, 
and  covering,  in  the  aggregate,  two-fifths  of  its  whole  aiea." 

The  maritime  front  is  narrow,  has  many  small  streams  in 
which  the  flowing  tide  reaches  the  base  of  the  Andes,  and  pre- 
sents no  obstacles  of  any  significance.  Through  the  two  Cordil- 
leras, the  Andes,  and  the  Sierra  Madre,  which  flank  and  elevate 
themselves  above  the  level  of  the  Table  Lands,  are  many  passes 
admitting  of  the  passage  of  railroads,  but  merely  from  the  outside 
on  to  the  Table  Lands  within.  The  Table  Lands  are,  however, 
ribbed  by  latitudinal  ranges  of  mountains,  of  immense  bulk  and 
height.  The  solution,  therefore,  condenses  itself  to  the  discovery 
of  a  single  line,  whereby  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  ribs  of  the  Table 
Lands,  the  lofty  crest  of  the  Andes,  and  its  abrupt  western  wall, 
may  all  be  continuously  and  consecutively  overcome,  surmounted, 
or  evaded. 

I  quote  from  a  memoir  given  to  the  public  by  myself,  some 
years  ago,  this  description  of  the  Table  Lands  : — 


The  distance  to  the  Pacific  from  the  top  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
(Rocky  Mountains),  where  you  leave  behind  the  waters  flowing 
to  the  Atlantic,  is  everywhere  some  1500  miles.  The  topograph- 
ical character  of  this  ultramontane  region  is  very  grand  and 
characteristic.  It  is  identical  with  the  region  at  the  sources  of 
the  La  Plata,  Amazon,  and  Magdalena,  of  South  America,  but 
more  immense.     Sketched  by  its  great  outlines  it  is  simply  this : 


26 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


M' 


The  chain  of  the  Andes  debouching  north  from  the  Isthmus, 
opens  like  the  letter  Y  into  two  primary  chains  (Cordilleras).  On 
the  right  the  Sierra  Madrc,  trending  along  the  coast  of  the  Mexi- 
can Gulf,  divides  the  Northern  Continent  almost  centrally,  forn- 
ing  an  unbroken  water-shed  t--  Bhering's  Strait.  On  the  left, 
the  Andes  follows  thr  roast  of  the  Pacific,  warps  around  the 
Gulf  of  California,  and,  passing  along  the  coast  of  California  and 
Oregon  (under  the  name  of  Sierra  Nev.  da),  terminates  also  near 
Bhering's  Strait. 

The  immense  interval  between  these  chains  is  a  succession  of 
iM^ra-montane  basins,  seven  in  number,  and  ranging  from  south 
to  north.   The  whole  forms  the  great  plateau  ol  the  Table  Lands. 

First,  is  the  "Basin  of  the  City  of  Mexico,"  receiving  the 
interior  drainage  of  both  Cordilleras,  which  waters,  having  no 
outlet  to  either  ocean,  are  dispersed  again  by  evaporation. 

Second,  the  "  Bolson  de  Mapimi,"  collecting  into  the  Laguna 
the  streams  draining  many  states,  from  San  Luis  Poto."*!  to  Coa- 
huila,  also  without  any  outflow  to  either  ocean. 

Third,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Del  Norte,"  whose  vast  area  feeds 
the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  Conchos,  and  Pecos.  These,  concentrated 
into  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  behind  the  Sierra  Madrc,  have, 
by  their  united  volume,  burst  through  its  wall,  and  found  an 
outlet  towards  the  Atlantic.  The  geological  character  of  this 
basin,  its  altitude,  its  configuration,  and  locality,  all  assign  it  this 
position,  as  distinguishing  it  from  all  others  contributing  their 
waters  to  the  Atlantic. 

Fourth,  the  "Basin  of  the  Great  Colorado  of  the  West." 
This  immense  basin  embraces  above  the  great  rivers  Rio  Verde 
and  Rio  Grande,  whose  confluent  waters  penetrating  the  mighty 
Cordillera  of  the  Andes  athwart,  from  base  to  base,  discharge 
themselves  into  the  Gulf  of  California.  Into  this  sublime  gorge 
(the  Cuaon  of  the  Colorado),  the  human  eye  has  never  swept  for 


MEMORANDA   OX   THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


27 


aa  interval  of  375  miles.  So  stern  a  character  docs  Nature 
assume  where  such  stupendous  mountains  resist  the  passage  of 
such  mighty  rivers. 

Fifth,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,"  like  the  Caspian 
rii  Asia,  containing  many  small  basins  within  one  great  rim,  and 
losing  its  scattered  waters  by  evaporation,  has  no  outflow  to  either 
ocean. 

Sixth,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Columbia,"  lying  across  the  north- 
ern flanks  of  the  two  last,  and  grand  above  them  all  in  position 
and  configuration.  Many  great  rivers,  besides  the  Snake  and 
Upper  Columbia,  descend  from  the  great  arc  of,  the  Sierra 
Madre,  where  it  circles  towards  the  north-west  from  43°  to 
52°,  flow  from  east  to  west,  and  concentrate  above  the  Cascades 
into  a  single  trunk,  which  here  strikes  the  mighty  Cordillera  of  the 
Andes  (narrowed  to  one  ridge),  and  disgorges  itself  through  this 
sublime  pass  at  once  into  the  open  Pacific.  It  is  here,  descend- 
ing by  the  grade  of  this  river  the  whole  distance  from  the  rim 
of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  through  the  Andes  to  the 
Pacific,  that  the  great  debouch  of  the  American  Continent 
towards  the  West  is  found — and  here  will  be  the  pathway  of 
future  generations  of  the  New  "World,  as  the  people  of  the  Old 
World  pass  down  the  Mediterranean,  and  out  by  Gibraltar. 

Above,  the  "  Basin  of  Frazer  River"  forms  a  seventh  of  the 
Table  Lands.  This  has  burst  a  canon  through  the  Andes,  and, 
like  the  fourth  and  sixth  basins,  sends  its  waters  to  the  Pacific. 
With  the  geography  of  the  more  northern  region  we  are  imper- 
fectly acquainted,  knowing,  however,  that  from  Puget's  Sound 
to  Bhcring's  Strait,  the  wall  of  the  Andes  forms  the  beach  itself 
of  the  Pacific,  whilst  the  Sierra  Madre  forms  the  western  rim  of 
the  basins  of  the  Saskatchewan  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and  the  Mc- 
Kenzie  of  the  Arctic  seas. 

Thus,  then,  briefly  we  arrive  at  this  great  cardinal  department 


:i 


28 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD  REGION. 


itii 


PHI 


m 


of  tlie  geography  of  the  Continent,  viz. :  the  Table  L.\nds, — 
being  a  longitudinal  section  (about  two-sevenths  of  its  whole 
area),  intermediate  between  the  two  oceans,  but  walled  off  from 
both,  and  having  but  three  outlets  for  its  waters,  viz. :  the  canons 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Columbia.  Columnar 
basalt  forms  the  basement  of  this  whole  region,  and  volcanic 
action  is  everywhere  prominent.  Its  general  level,  ascertained 
upon  the  lakes  of  the  different  basins,  is  about  6000  feet  above 
the  sea.  Rain  seldom  falls,  and  timber  is  rare.  The  ranges  of 
mountains  which  separate  the  basins  are  often  rugged,  and  capped 
with  perpetual  snow,  whilst  isolated  masses  of  great  height  ele- 
vate themselves  from  the  plains.  This  whole  formation  abounds 
in  the  precious  metals.   Such  is  the  region  of  the  Table  Lands. 

Beyond  these  is  the  maritime  region,  for  the  great  wall  of  the 
Andes,  receding  from  the  beach  of  the  Pacific,  leaves  between 
itself  and  the  sea  a  half  valley,  as  it  were,  forming  the  seaboard 
slope  from  San  Diego  to  the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca.  This  is 
1200  miles  in  length,  and  200  broad.  Across  it  descends  to  the 
sea  a  series  of  fine  rivers,  ranging  from  south  to  north,  like  the 
little  streams  descending  from  the  AUeghanies  to  the  Atlantic. 
These  are  the  San  Gabriel,  the  Buenaventura,  the  San  Joachim, 
and  Sacramento,  the  Rogue,  Tlameth,  and  Umqua  rivers,  the 
Wallamette  and  Columbia,  the  Cowlitz,  Chekalis  and  Nasqually, 
of  Puget's  Sound.  This  resembles  and  balances  the  maritime 
slope  of  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  Continent  j  but  it  is  vastly  larger 
superficially ;  of  the  highest  agricultural  excellence ;  basaltic  in 
formation ;  grand  beyond  the  powers  of  description,  the  snowy 
points  and  volcanoes  of  the  Andes  being  everywhere  visible  from 
the  sea,  whilst  its  climate  is  entirely  exempt  from  the  frosts  of 
winter. 

The  configuration  of  the  Sierra  Madre  (the  Mother  Mountaia 
of  the  world)  is  transcendently  massive  and  sublime.    Rising 


MEMORANDA   ON   THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


29 


from  a  basement  whose  roots  spread  out  two  thousand  miles  and 
more,  its  crest  splits  almost  centrally  the  Northern  Continent, 
and  divides  its  waters  to  the  two  oceans.  Novel  terms  have  been 
introduced  to  define  its  characteristics :  lilesa,  expresses  the  level 
plateaux  of  its  summits.  Canon,  the  gorges  rent  in  its  slopes  by 
the  descending  rivers.  Jiutc,  the  conical  mountains  isolated  and 
trimmed  into  symmetrical  peaks  by  atmospheric  corrosion. 

Everybody  has  seen  the  card-houses  built  by  children  in  the 
nursery.  Suppose  three  of  these  in  a  row,  having  a  second  story 
over  the  centre :  this  toy  familiarly  delineates  a  transverse  section 
of  the  Sierra  Madre.  The  top  of  this  upper  story  represents  the 
central  primary  mesa  of  the  Cordillera — its  summit  a  great  plain, 
descending  on  both  flanks  by  a  perpendicular  wall  of  GOOO  feet  to 
the  level  of  the  second  mesa,  or  steppe.  Towards  the  west  the 
second  mesa  fills  the  whole  space  to  the  Andes,  whose  farther 
side  descends  abruptly  to  the  tide-level  of  the  Pacific.  This  is 
again  what  has  been  before  described  at  length  as  the  Great 
Table  Lands. 

But  towards  the  east,  the  second  mesa  forms  a  Piedmont,  rent 
into  peaks  by  the  fissures  of  innumerable  streams.  This  Pied- 
mont, called  by  us  the  Black  Hills,  masks  the  front  of  the  Sierra 
Madre  from  end  to  end.  So  completely  is  it  torn  and  rent  by  the 
perplexity  of  watercourses,  that  patches  alone  are  left  to  define 
the  original  plateau.  These  are  the  eastern  envelope  of  the  basin 
of  the  Yellow  Stone,  the  Laramie  Plain  (between  the  Plattes), 
the  Ratone  and  the  Llano  Estacado  of  Texas.  Beneath  this  the 
third  mesa  (or  steppe)  is  that  superlative  region,  the  Great 
Prairie  Plains,  whose  gentle  slope  forms  a  glacis  to  the  gulf 
through  Texas,  and  in  front  to  the  trough  formed  by  the 
Mississippi  river  from  Itasca  Lake  to  the  Balize. 

It  is  this  vastness  of  geographical  configuration  which  leads 
the  glance  of  the  engineer  with  unerring  certainty  to  that  line 


i 


! 


,* 


5  , 


30 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REOION. 


of  niitural  grades  from  ocean  to  ocean,  the  discovery  of  which 
mankind  now  awaits  with  the  keenest  interest,  and  along  which 
the  American  nation  is  resolved  to  construct  the  consummate 
work  of  art — the  Asiatic  and  European  Railway. 

Advancing  north  along  the  comb  of  the  Sierra  Madre  from 
below  Mexico,  you  find  at  the  sources  of  the  Platte  (Sweetwater), 
a  wide  gap,  where  the  high  mesa  suddenly  giving  out  for  the 
space  of  forty  miles,  the  second  mesa  passes  through  from  east 
to  west,  the  continued  water-ridge  being  scarcely  perceptible 
amongst  its  gentle  undulations.  This  is  the  "  South  Pass."  It 
is  so  named  as  being  the  most  southern  pass,  to  which  you  may 
ascend  by  an  affluent  of  the  Atlantic,  and  step  immediately  over, 
to  a  stream  descending  directly  to  the  Pacific.  This  name  is 
as  ancient  as  the  pass  itself.  Into  it  concentrate  the  great  trails 
of  the  bufi"alo,  geographers  and  road-makers  by  instinct,  before 
the  coming  cf  man.  The  Indian,  the  Mexican,  and  the  Ameri- 
can, successors  of  one  another,  have  not  improved  or  deflected 
from  the  instincts  of  the  buflfalo,  nor  will  they,  whilst  the  moun- 
tains last  in  their  present  unshattered  bulk.  The  South  Pass  has 
a  towering  grandeur,  in  keeping  with  the  rivers  between  which  it 
is  the  avenue  (the  Missouri,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Columbia),  all 
of  which  issuing  from  the  wall  of  the  Wind  River  Mountain,  come 
out  of  it  upon  the  second  mesa,  at  the  same  level,  and  into  which 
they  immediately  commence  burrowing  their  canons  of  descent 
to  the  seas. 

Here  then,  is  the  route,  the  southern  route  of  the  National 
Railroad,  ascending  by  the  water  grade  of  the  Platte  to  the  top 
of  the  second  mesa,  where  it  forms  the  summit,  following  the  level 
of  this  mesa  along  the  base  of  the  high  mesa,  to  the  Columbia 
(Snake  river),  and  descending  its  water-grade  clear  to  the  Pa- 
cific. 

The  distance  from  the  Platte  to  the  Columbia  has  not  been 


MEMORANDA   ON   THE   PACIFIC   RAILUOAD. 


31 


accurately  ascertained,  though  by  the  present  wagon-road,  which 
crosses  a  corner  of  the  Salt  Basin,  it  is  less  than  300  miles. 
Here  is  that  doublc-incliued  plane,  to  find  which  has  been  the 
first  essential  in  every  line  of  transportation  existing  in  the  world. 
There  is  none  south  of  this,  because  everywhere  the  basins  of  the 
Table  Lands  overlap  and  envelope  one  another,  so  that  the  passes 
lead  merely  from  one  of  these  into  another;  nor  are  there  any 
natural  tunnels  through  the  precipitous  walls  of  the  Andes,  and 
between  the  basins. 

The  Columbia,  running  across  the  Table  Lands  from  cast  to 
west,  distributes  the  descent  of  8500  feet  equally  along  its  course 
of  1200  miles,  and  tunnels  the  great  ranges  of  Blue  Mountains 
and  the  Andes.  This  whole  course  of  the  river  is  a  continuity 
of  rapids,  having  three  falls,  the  American  falls  of  thirty  feet  at 
Portnoouf,  the  Salmon  falls  of  forty-five  feet,  200  miles  below, 
and  the  Chuttes  of  twelve  feet,  near  the  Dalles.  This  river  grade 
is  then  aa  rapid  as  the  descent  to  be  accomplished  will  admit  of  j 
for,  distributed  into  long  levels  and  steep  grades,  it  would  im- 
mensely impair  the  utility  of  the  whole  work,  and  fatally  impede 
transportation. 

The  great  Colorado  runs  diagonally  across  the  Table  Lands, 
debouchinj  into  the  Gulf  of  California  j  but  has  its  course  and 
those  of  its  great  affluents,  parallel  with  the  mountain  ranges, 
which  are  scored  with  unfathomed  canons,  perplexing  the  tra- 
veller with  an  infinity  of  impassable  ridges,  amongst  which  the 
watercourses  are  embowelled.  Here  is  that  immense  and  com- 
plex labyrinth  of  mountain  ribs,  whose  great  height  and  arid 
character  have  defied  every  efi"ort  to  explore  or  penetrate.  Its 
impenetrability  cannot  be  made  to  yield  to  art,  owing  to  the 
whole  space  from  the  Sierra  Madre  to  the  Pacific,  bristling  with 
parallel  ribs  of  snowy  mountains.  The  rivers  penetrate  these 
diagonally,  and  arc  sunk  in  canons,  burrowed  deep  into  their 
3* 


82 


THE  C/:ntual  gold  region. 


roots.  North  of  tlio  Soiitli  Pass,  however,  exist  many  single 
passes  where  the  higher  branches  of  the  Missouri  and  Culunibia 
interlock.  These  circuitous  routes  have  rll  the  same  termini  as 
that  of  the  South  Pass,  for  they  also  descend  the  same  two  rivers 
to  tlie  seas. 

Thus  between  the  South  Pass  and  the  Isthmus  of  Teh uantcpec 
there  exists  no  railroad  route,  owing  to  the  longitudinal  courses 
of  the  rivers,  the  complexity  of  the  basins,  and  the  double  barrier 
of  primary  mountain  chains.  To  the  north,  other  passes  exist, 
which  future  generations  may  dovelopo,  and  on  which  naTigation 
may  be  used  for  four-fifths  of  the  whole  distance. 

True  it  is  that  potential  fashion  now  exalts  the  little  maritime 
basin  of  California,  San  Francisco  Bay,  into  the  haven  of  hope 
and  fortune  of  the  new  seaboard,  whilst  the  sublime  basin  of  the 
Columbia  and  its  magniiiccnt  river  harbors  are  banished  from 
public  favor.  The  basin  of  San  Francisco  is  small,  tropical  in 
climate,  sterile,  and  the  most  isolated  spot,  to  reach  from  the 
interior,  on  the  whole  coast  of  the  Pacific.  No  great  river  gives 
it  access  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  from  which  it  is  cut  off  by 
the  basins  of  the  Salt  Lake,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Del  Norte, 
overlapping  each  other. 

The  Columbia  is  larger  than  the  Danube,  and  equal  to  the 
Ganges.  In  size,  climate,  agricultural  excellence,  capacity  for 
population,  and  its  wonderful  circular  configuration,  the  basin  of 
the  Columbia  surpasses  both  of  these  others.  The  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  a  salient  point  upon  the  open  coast,  more  than  any 
other  central  and  convenient  to  the  whole  North  Pacific  and 
Asia,  is,  in  size,  depth  of  water,  safety,  and  facility  of  ingress  or 
egress,  equal  to  San  Francisco.  As  the  mouth  of  the  greatest 
river  descending  from  our  continent  into  the  Pacific,  it  is  infinitely 
before  it.  It  is  eight  degrees  south  of  Liverpool,  having  the 
climate  of  Bordeaux,  Marseilles,  or  Savannah. 


MEMORANDA   ON    THE   PACIFIC   RAILUOAD. 


33 


Why  is  not  the  deep  sea  navigation  concentrated  at  Norfolk, 
on  Iliunpton  Roads,  the  finest  harbor  of  tho  whole  Atlantic? 
Why,  rather,  is  it  found  at  New  York  and  New  Orleans,  acces- 
sible only  through  every  danger  that  can  menace  shipping  ?  Why, 
because  the  former  is  tho  outlet  of  the  basin  of  tho  St.  Lawrence, 
the  latter  of  the  Mississippi.  Tho  shipping  of  commerce  goes  to 
where  cargoes  can  bo  found. 

Less  than  fifty  years  t^o,  fashion  pronounced  the  little  ravines 
of  James'  river  and  the  Connecticut  the  proud  spots  of  America, 
and  held  the  great  uninhabitable  wastes  of  the  Mississippi  and 
its  nnuarii/atrd  streams  as  worthy  only  to  balance  coil  fish!  This 
same  splenetic  spirit  oi  fashion  now  manufactures  a  similarly 
ridiculous  misdirection  for  the  energy  of  the  pioneers,  by  setting 
up  what  the  geologist  would  call  a  "pot-hole  of  tho  Andes," 
against  the  grand  Columbia.  Commerce,  provident  like  every 
other  department  of  industry,  makes  herself  harbors  with  charts, 
pilots,  buoys,  and  beacons.  The  shallowest  channel  of  the  Colum- 
bia has  thirty-five  feet  of  water — the  deepest  of  New  York 
twenty-nine. 


Thus  does  Nature,  piously  appealed  to,  and  calmly  consulted, 
exhaust,  bring  to  a  close  and  settle,  by  eternal  facts,  the 
various  ojiinions  which  perplex  tho  public  mind  in  locating  the 
continental  railroad.  The  national  will  must  wisely  listen  to  and 
obey  her  promptings.  Postponement,  defeat,  and  failure  will 
overwhelm  every  effort  to  depart  from  the  water-grade,  or  to  pene- 
trate, perforate  or  surmount  in  any  other  way  the  Titanic  rigidity 
of  the  table  lands.  The  obstinate  advocacy  of  any  other  route  is 
insidious  and  hostile  in  the  lump  to  the  work  entirely.  The 
water-grade  of  the  continent  is  simply  this : — The  road  leaving 
the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri,  pursues  the  Platte  river  along 
the  facile  ascent  of  its  south  bank  to  the  South  Pass ;   this  is 


fi 


84 


TIIK   CENTRAL   GOLD   UEOION. 


sorao  750  miles:  thcnco  alonj;  tho  smooth  Icvrl  of  the  South 
]*ufls,  250  miles  to  Snake  river :  thence  down  the  fiicilo  duseent 
of  Snake  river  to  tho  Columbia,  900  miles.  This  route  is  the 
shortest  and  best  across  America  j  it  is,  in  practical  fact,  a  level 
from  end  to  end ;  tho  grading  is  complete  throughout ;  the 
mountains  arc  all  tunnelled ;  tho  climate  dry  and  propitious. 

There  remains  to  bo  described  the  peculiarities  of  climate,  and 
tho  bearing  upon  our  subject  of  tho  immense  interests  of  ocean 
commerce  and  political  power. 


CHAPTER  III. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  MEMORANDA  ON  THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.— 

Continued, 

In  two  former  chapters  I  have  endeavored  to  grasp  the  geogra- 
phical view  of  the  continental  railway — to  winnow  its  im- 
mense complexity,  to  shako  loose  a  few  simple  facts  engorged 
in  obscurity,  and  to  stand  face  to  face  and  in  council  with  Nature. 
We  have  seen  that  nature^  thus  candidly  appealed  to,  leads  us 
point  blank  to  the  supreme  pass  of  the  continent,  the  South 
Pas.?,  and  thence  traces  with  her  unerring  finger  to  the  right, 
and  to  the  left,  the  double  water-grade  to  the  seas — by  the  Platte 
to  the  Atlantic,  by  the  Snake  river  to  the  Pacific. 

But  public  opinion  is  p.^rplexed  by  a  systematic  obscuration 
of  facts,  long  and  vehemently  repeated,  in  other  things  besides 
geography.  This  route  u  pronounced  northern;  the  climate 
hostile ;  accumulated  snows  are  insisted  upon ;  the  Indians  im- 
practicable; the  work  itself  herculean;  population,  provisions, 
material  to  build,  and  work  for  the  road  wanting ;  the  length  of 


MEMOHANUA   ON    THK    PAtlFIO   RAILROAD. 


85 


the  road  is  pronoiincoJ  iiisuporablt',  and  its  cost  enormous.  Tlicsc 
objoction.s  all  fall  ab.solutrly  bet'oro  a  few  JactH  of  nature,  hero 
eminently  clear  and  emphatic.  Let  U3  appeal  to  them  aud 
decide ! 

Cli.mate. — Climate  controls  the  migrations  of  the  human  race, 
which  have  steadily  adhered  to  an  "  inathrnnid  zodinr,"  or  belt  of 
equal  warmth,  around  the  world.  Tho  extremely  mild  tempera- 
ture of  our  western  seaboard  is  tho  consequence  of  the  same  great 
laws  of  nature  wliich  operate  in  Wcsteru  Europe.  These  are  the 
regular  and  fixed  ordinances  of  the  code  of  nature,  to  which  the 
migrations  of  man,  in  common  with  the  animals,  yield  an  instinc- 
tive obedience.  Within  the  torrid  zone  of  tho  globe,  from  tho 
equator  to  the  twenty-eighth  degree  of  north  latitude,  blow  the 
trade  tcinih  and  variulks,  always  from  tho  east  and  north-east, 
all  round  tho  world.  But  in  tho  succeeding  belt  from  28°  to  G0°, 
tho  winds  have  an  opposite  or  compensating  direction,  from  the 
west  and  south-west,  all  round  the  globe. 

These  winds  reach  tho  western  coasts  of  America  and  Europe 
after  traversing  the  expanse  of  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  oceans. 
Warmed  to  the  temperature  of  these  oceans,  they  imjjart  again 
this  same  mild  atmosphere  to  the  maritime  fronts  of  the  con- 
tinents which  receive  them.  These  same  winds,  passing  onward 
over  great  extensions  of  continent  of  low  temperature,  covered 
with  snow  or  frozen  during  winter;  often  warped  upwards  by 
mountain  ranges,  becoming  exhausted  of  their  warmth,  have, 
upon  the  eastern  expansions  of  the  continents,  an  exactly  opposite 
efi"ect  upon  the  climate.  Hence  the  variant  temperature  of  New 
York,  and  Lisbon,  in  Portugal,  which  face  one  another,  on  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  Atlantic — of  San  Francisco,  and  Pekin,  in  China, 
similarly  opposite  upon  the  Pacific.  At  San  Francisco  and  at 
Lisbon,  the  seasons  are  but  modulations  of  one  continuous  sum- 
mer.    At  New  York  and  at  Pekin,  winter  annually  suspends 


n  (1 
i  '■ 


86 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


m\ 


If 


vegetation  during  seven  months,  whilst  ice  and  snow  bind  up  the 
land  and  waters.  Those  four  cities  are  all  close  upon  the  same 
parallel  of  latitude,  the  fortieth  degree  north. 

Thus  is  it  manifest  why  in  Asia  the  mass  of  population  is  con 
gregatod  on  and  south  of  the  fortieth  degree,  and  in  Europe  north 
of  it.  In  America  it  again  curves  to  the  south  ou  the  eastern 
face  of  our  continent,  to  rise  northward  again  on  the  warm 
Pacific  coast.  Within  this  undulating  belt  of  the  north  temperate 
zone,  in  breadth  about  thirty-three  degrees,  is  included  four-fifths 
of  all  the  land  and  nine-tenths  of  the  world's  population.  Iloro 
has  been  the  progressive  march  of  the  human  race  round  the 
world,  commencing  in  the  farthest  orient,  and  forming  a  zodiac 
of  nations  towards  the  setting  sun.  In  this  have  been  retained 
similar  tastes,  similar  industrial  pursuits,  similar  food  and  cloth- 
ing, requiring  similarity  of  slimate,  and  recoiling  alike  from  the 
torrid  and  from  the  arctic  zones. 

If  then,  the  mind  retains  the  simple  facts,  that  all  our  present 
territory  between  the  oceans  lies  within  this  zone,  where  the 
winds  flow  always  from  the  west,  we  arrive  at  the  solution,  as 
well  of  the  difierent  modifications  of  climate  along  the  same 
parallel  o^  latitude,  as  of  the  variety  in  the  vegetable  covering  of 
the  surface.  Why  the  easttrn  portion  is  clothed  with  dense 
forests,  the  central  portion  with  prairie  grasses  only ;  and  why 
the  great  fertile  plains  of  the  high  mountains  and  uf  the  Tahle- 
Land>  are  yet  of  an  arid  hardness  and  naked  of  all  vegetation. 

The  am;,unt  of  irrigating  rains  falling  upon  tho  face  of  the 
land  from  the  clouds,  regulates  this.  The  oceans  are  the  reser- 
voirs which  supply  clouds  to  the  atmosphere.  The  vapors,  rising 
from  the  whole  surface  of  the  ocean  into  the  higher  regions  of 
the  atmosphere,  form  themselves,  at  a  cold  elevatiou,  into  natural 
balloons  or  clouds.  These,  carried  by  currents  of  air  over  the 
land,  nnd  rising  still  higher,  becomo  condensed  and  distil  them- 


MEMORANDA   ON   THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


37 


-i 


I 

I; 
f 

;3 


selves  upon  the  earth  in  the  form  of  rain.  Those  holding  vapor 
in  the  form  least  conceutratcJ,  rpill  it  out  in  the  regions  near  the 
sea.  Others  attain  to  a  high  degree  of  concentration,  ^-etaiuing 
the  form  of  clouds  until  they  reach  the  central  regions  of  the 
continents  and  a  great  elevation. 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  great  snoict/  Cordillera  of  the  Andes 
lines  the  whole  western  seaboard  of  North  America,  being  in 
sight  of  vessels  sailing  up  the  sea,  from  the  Gulf  of  California  to 
Bhering's  Strait.  The  winds  coming  from  the  west  and  over 
th"  ocean,  blow  against  this  wall.  On  this  elevated  summit  of 
perpetual  congelation,  water  becomes  ice,  as  solid  and  permanent 
as  the  cold  lava-rck.  The  irrigating  influence  of  the  Pacific 
ocean  is  here  abruptly  stopped  and  entirely  ceases. 
,  The  great  citstcrn  slope  of  the  continents,  however,  descending 
by  gentle  inclined  planes  to  all  the  seas,  receives,  without  any 
geographical  interruption,  the  irrigating  winds  and  clouds  of 
the  ocean.  The  barrier  of  the  Alleghanies  diminishes,  but  docs 
not  stop  the  inflowing  of  vapori?.  But  we  have  seen  that  the 
■^isds  blow  perpetually  from  the  west.  The  inward  progress, 
then,  of  the  atmospheric  vapors  is  by  this  continually  repelled. 
The  vegetation  of  the  continent  itself  reveals  to  us  the  result  of 
this  conflict  between  winds  and  the  gradual  exhaustion  of  the 
atmospheric  vapors,  with  an  exactness  as  complete  as  that  with 
which  the  thermometer  indicates  temperature.  The  maritime 
declivity,  the  Alleghanies,  and  the  countries  between  the  latter 
and  the  troughs  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  '  awrencc,  are  densely 
clad  with  timber.  So  are  the  states  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and 
South  Missouri,  receiving  clouds  from  the  Gulf  partly,  and  partly 
from  the  Atlantic.  Westward  and  northward  the  timber  grad- 
ually tapers  awaj,  still  following  in  narrow  lines  along  the  rivers, 
but  leaving  the  uplands  and  ridges  to  the  luxuriant  prairie  grasses. 
Soon,  however,  the  timber  abandons  its  struggle  to  grow,  and 


i 


:i       ! 


I''' 

hi!- 


88 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD  REGION. 


ceases  entirely.  Onward,  however,  from  the  last  fringe  of  timber, 
for  some  hundred  miles,  the  irrigation  continues  to  preserve  the 
mellowness  of  th^  soil,  and  a  sward  of  tall,  luxuriant  grasses 
covers  the  whole  smooth  expanse  of  nature.  This,  in  turn, 
gradually  dwaifs  under  the  decreasing  irrigation,  tapering  into 
the  delicate  curled  grass  of  the  buflFalo  plains,  which  is  scarce 
half  an  inch  in  height,  and  resembles  the  wool  of  a  lamb. 
Finally,  grass  itself  fails,  and  the  general  characteristic  of  the 
surface  of  the  great  Si'3rra  Madre  and  the  plateau  of  the  table 
lands  is  total  nakedness  of  any  nutritious  vegetable  covering. 
The  soil  is  cither  compactly  hard,  or  resembles  dry  ashes.  The 
surface  is  here  sparsely  clothed  with  dwarfed  wormwood  and  the 
prickly  pear,  funereal  plants,  which  seem  as  car<;les3  of  moisture 
as  is  the  salamander  of  fire. 

Such  are  the  great  primary  laws  of  nature  which  decide  tho 
climate  and  vegetation  of  our  continent.  luteriuptions  and  modi- 
fications of  these  laws  are  innumerable.  Nature  is  everywhere 
wise.  Compensations  exist  in  all  these  countries,  so  eccentrically 
novel  to  us,  which  will  win  for  them  the  detisest  populations. 
No  deserts  of  silicious  sand,  like  those  of  Arabia  and  Africa,  exist 
in  America,  nor  are  such  possible.  The  only  formation  of  sili- 
cious sand  is  the  Atlantic  declivity,  whose  soil  soon  wastes  under 
culture,  and  the  ocean  washes  this.  The  great  bowl  made  up  of 
the  basins  of  the  interior  is  everywhere  calcareous.  The  soil  which 
covers  the  two  great  Cordilleras,  the  Table  Lands  and  the 
Pacific  declivity,  is  the  intrinsically  fertile  decay  of  basaltic  and 
lava  formations.  Thirst  alone  causes  its  nakedness  and  apparent 
aridity.  Where  this  thirst  is  quenched  with  a  frugal  supply  of 
water,  it  shows  an  abundant  and  inexhaustible  fertility.  Great 
rivers  are  everywhere  full  and  convenient. 

Thus  are  all  the  successive  varieties  of  climate,  vegetation,  and 
soil  explained  by  the  gradual  attenuation  of  the  rains,  a^  we 


MEMORANDA    ON    TIIK    PACIFIC    RAILnOAD. 


39 


recede  from  the  ocean.  Vice  versa,  these  conditions  of  the 
atmosphere  and  land  attest  the  absence  of  vapor  in  the  former. 
All  secondary  phenomena,  such  as  the  annual  fires  of  the  great 
prairies  of  long  grass,  are  consequences  of  the  aridity  of  the 
autumnal  and  winter  atmosphere,  and  not  causes  of  the  absence 
of  timber. 

Again,  the  elevation  of  the  plain  of  the  SoatJi,  Pass  is  7800 
feet  above  the  sea.  The  streams  which  collect  and  carry  oflf  its 
waters — Sweet-water  to  the  east  and  Sandy  to  the  west — arc  only 
large  rivulets,  though  their  courses  are  long.  The  amount  of 
rain  in  summer  and  snow  in  winter  upon  the  water-grade  of  the 
Platte  and  Snake  rivers,  and  in  the  South  Pass  between  them,  is 
so  insignificant  as  to  bear  no  comparison  in  amount  with  those 
between  Boston  and  BuQalo! 

But  the  stupendous  masses  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains 
rise  in  the  northern  horizon  of  the  South  Pass  to  an  altitude  of 
14,000  feet.  Their  great  elevation  draws  down  the  vapors 
left  in  the  atmosphere,  which  clothe  their  summits  with  per- 
petual, and  their  flanks  with  winter  snows.  These  supply  waters 
to  the  great  rivers,  and  cover  the  flanks  and  gorges  of  the 
great  mountains  with  immense  forests.  The  same  '"s  the  case 
elsewhere  with  the  great  primary  mountain-chains,  such  as  the 
Utah  or  \7asatch,  and  the  Salmon  Hiver  Mountains;  but  the 
seer  Hiuiy  mountains  and  passes  arc  entirely  naked  of  timber, 
ha''  '•:■,..  .T,  in  them  neither  rains  nor  snows  at  any  seasoa. 

iiuu  "a  .  ;i.ivaordiaary/ac<  here  developes  itself.  If  from  the 
point  whe. :  '.iC  junction  of  several  small  streams  forms  the  Kansas 
river,  120  miles  due  west  from  Independence,  as  a  centre,  a  circle 
be  described  tou-^ing  the  boundary  line  of  forty-nine  degrees  as 
a  tangent,  the  opposite  side  of  the  circle  will  pass  through  the 
"^.^port  of  Matagorda  in  Texas;  through  N'"-'  Orleans  and  Mobile. 
This  point  is,  therefore,  the  centre  north  and  south  of  our  coun- 
4 


m 


ff 


•^mmmmmm^^ 


40 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


!h 


try.  If  from  the  same  centre  a  larger  circle  be  described,  it  will 
pass  through  San  Francisco,  and  through  Vancouver  City,  on  the 
Columbia,  exactly  grazing  the  whole  coast  between  them.  The 
same  circle  will  pass  through  Quebec  and  Boston  on  the  Atlantic, 
through  Havana  on  the  gulf,  and  through  the  city  of  Mexico. 
The  same  point  is  then  the  centre  between  the  oceans. 

Thus,  at  the  forks  of  the  Kansas  river  a  point  exists,  in  lati- 
tude 38°  45',  and  longitude  97°  west  of  Greenwich,  which  is  the 
Geoorai'IIICAL  Centre,  north  and  south,  east  and  west,  at  once 
of  our  whole  national  territory,  of  our  Union,  and  of  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi ! 

The  /acts  then  whii  1.  ontrate  themselves  to  locate  the 

Continental  Railway,  a .  tht  line  of  water-grades  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  sum  themselves  ap  conclusively  in  its  favor  and  against 
all  others : 

From  Baltimore  and  New  York,  through  St.  Louis  to  Kansas, 
this  road  is  now  under  contract  and  construction.  For  this  dis- 
tance the  route  traverses  a  country  guttered  with  rivers ;  inter- 
rupted by  the  narrow  and  abrupt  ribs  ^of  the  Alleghany  chain ; 
covered  with  timber;  having  a  fitful  climate  vexed  with  immense 
rains  and  snows;  the  surface  infinitely  channelled  with  water- 
course^s  and  perplexed  with  innumerable  ravines,  alternating  with 
steep  and  narrow  hills.  Yet  this  half  of  the  whole  road  pro- 
gresses over  all  these  difficulties  with  such  ease  and  celerity,  that 
argument  of  its  impracticability  is  not  tolerated.  But  against 
the  remaining  half  of  the  road,  from  Kansas  to  Astoria,  tfeese 
arguments  are  tolerated,  though  in  truth  they  have  all  ceased, 
and  such  obstructions  and  impediments  have  no  existence  in 
nature. 

The  remaining  half  from  Kansas  to  Astoria  crosses  no  river 
of  any  magnitude,  yet  pursues  the  banks  of  great  rivers  continu- 
ously the  whole  distance.     The  banks  of  these  rivers,  rising  but 


3 


^^\ 


MEMORANDA   ON    THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


41 


a  few  feet  above  tLe  water  surface,  arc  of  imuienrie  width,  per- 
fectly hard  oiid  dry,  and  smooth  as  a  water  level  Such  is  the 
general  churacteristic  of  the  Platte  and  Columbia  from  end  to 
end.  The  plain  of  the  Smith  Pass  is  almost  as  smooth  and  hard 
as  a  marble  pavement,  and  is  of  a  general  breadth  exceeding 
thirty  miles.  Not  a  single  eminence  exists  in  the  whole  distance 
but  is  tunnelled  by  these  rivers  down  to  the  general  grade.  On 
the  track  everywhere  is  material  in  every  variety  of  form,  and  in 
the  sublimest  abundance.  Lumber  exists  in  abundance  in  the 
high  mountains  to  the  right  and  left;  iron  can  be  supplied  at 
the  ends  and  upon  the  navigable  rivers,  brought  from  Europe  if 
necessary  as  it  now  comes  for  nearly  all  the  railroads  iu  America. 
Mineral  coal  is  abundant  from  end  to  end.  Rock  in  every 
variety — granite,  basalt,  lava,  limestone,  and  gypsum.  The 
Platte  perforates  a  great  range  of  mountains  of  (jypsxim.  The 
Snake  river  a  less  one  of  roch-saU. 

This  route  is  not  northern,  but  exactly  central.  The  sublime 
order  and  fitness  of  nature  seems  here  pre-eminently  to  vindicate 
and  exemplify  itself.  Upon  the  Kansas  river  it  plumbs  the 
geographical  centre  of  the  national  territory.  From  hence  it 
curves  northward  to  Baltimore,  the  most  southern  Atlantic  city 
of  great  commercial  activity.  It  curves  gently  to  the  northward 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  This  is  in  latitude  4G°  19',  being 
three  degrees  south  of  Havre  in  Franct  ,  and  eight  degrees  souih 
of  Liverpool  and  Amsterdam.  Yet  the  climate  of  Western  Ame- 
rica is  milder  than  that  of  Western  Europe.  It  is  also  upon  the 
coasts  extending  fifteen  degrees  north  of  the  Columbia,  that  the 
marine  of  the  Pacific  will  be  constructed,  as  hero  are  combined 
the  conveniences  of  sea-harbors  and  forests.  It  is  in  the  Baltic 
and  British  Isles  that  all  the  marine  of  Europe  is  built  and 
owrfed.  It  is  likewise  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  in  New  England 
that  the  marine  of  America  is  constructed  and  owned. 


4 


-n 


42 


THE  CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


W    i! 


To  speak  of  the  obstruction  of  Indians  upon  the  route  is  a 
monstrous  burlesque.  The  whole  aggregate  number  of  men, 
women,  and  children,  within  several  hundred  miles  along  the 
flanks  of  this  route,  docs  not  amount  to  iiine  chousand,  or  one- 
fifth  of  the  population  of  Washington  City  !  The  most  moderate 
pay  would  make  of  them  valuable  herders  of  stock  and  hunters. 
The  pastures  now  maintain  meat  upon  the  hoof,  or  buffalo,  to  the 
amount  of  many  millions.  An  hundred  millions  of  tame  cattle 
will  maintain  themselves  in  the  buffalo  country,  fat  in  condition 
round  the  year.  Beef  is  the  appropriate  food  of  these  dry  and 
high  altitudes. 

The  eastern  half  of  this  route,  from  Baltimore  to  Kansas,  tra- 
verses very  centrally  the  densest  population,  the  largest  production 
and  consumption,  and  consequently  the  line  of  greatest  travel 
and  commerce.  The  same  will  be  the  case  with  the  western  half 
so  soon  as  the  hurlesipie  of  *•  Indian  occupation"  is  brushed  out  of 
the  way.  The  immense  mass  of  pioneers  in  all  the  elder  States, 
chafes  to  Issue  out  and  cover  this  delightful  country  with 
republics. 

The  country  embracin>';  the  sources  of  the  Sweetwater,  Colo- 
rado, and  Snake  rivers,  is  a  gold  country,  equalling  California 
or  Brazil,  but  inaccessible  to  ocean  navisiation.  The  climate 
docs  not,  as  in  these  latter  countries,  pulverize  and  disintegrate 
the  rock.  The  gold  is  in  a  matrix  of  quartz.  The  hard  por- 
phyry and  lava  will  descend  in  immense  quantities  and  thus 
economize  the  paving  of  the  cities  of  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. One  natural  production  of  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Table 
Lands  will  soon  repay  the  cost  of  the  construction  of  this  road. 
This  is  SALT.  There  are  mountains  near  the  sources  of  Snake 
river,  composed  of  stratified  masses  of  rock-salt — just  as  our  river 
bluffs  are  of  limestone.  This,  quarried  with  light  tools,  and 
ground  to  powder,  as  grain  is  reduced  to  flour,  is  the  pure  alum 


MEMORANDA   ON    THE    PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 


43 


salt  of  commerce.  Every  living  soul  of  America  uses  salt  thrice 
per  day.  Every  animal  requires  it  as  frequently.  Every  ounce 
of  provisions  is  preserved  with  it.  It  is  mixed  with  hay  and 
preserves  timber.  It  is  used  in  the  manufactures  and  fine  arts. 
Brought  hence  down  to  the  focal  point  of  navigation  in  Missouri, 
this  State  will  become  the  distributing  point  of  this  most  valu- 
able, greatest,  and  most  indispensable  article  of  commerce. 

By  the  last  national  census,  the  annual  production  of  our 
country  reaches  the  value  of  three  thousand  millions  of  dollars. 
Seventy-five  per  cent,  of  this  is/ooc?,  which  finds  no  market  among 
the  comparatively  limited  population  of  Europe,  205,000,000,  who 
feed  themselves.  Around  the  Pacific,  in  front  of  Astoria,  are 
745,000,000  of  hungry  Asiatics  and  Polynesians,  who  have  gro- 
ceries, clothing,  spices,  and  porcelain,  to  exchange  for  meat  and 
grain.  But  the  western  half  of  this  road  departs  from  the  bank 
of  the  Missouri,  to  which  all  America  has  access  at  this  hour  by 
the  navigiible  rivers — and  from  Astoria  these  millions  of  consumers 
may  bo  reached  directly,  over  a  tranquil  ocean  and  under  a  tern- 
perate  atmosphere :  the  equatorial  heats  are  only  encountered 
last  and  at  the  place  of  final  delivery.  No  douht,  in  the  popu- 
lous, central,  food-producing  states  of  Iowa,  Missouri,  Arkansas, 
and  Illinois,  three  hundred  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  produce 
of  industry,  fail  annually  to  find  a  market,  and  the  profit  thereon 
perishes  for  want  of  this  road  exit  from  the  centre  to  the  north- 
western  coast ! 

But  it  is  important  that  the  people  receive  with  candor,  and 
allow  due  weight  to  the  overwhelming  and  conclusive  proofs  in 
favor  of  this  route  of  the  water-grades,  which  Nature,  all  recorded 
human  experience,  and  the  solid  science  of  civil  engineering,  con- 
spire to  submit  to  their  judgment.  Nature  is  the  supreme  engi- 
neer ;  art  is  prosperous  only  whilst  adhering  to  her  teachings. 
We  have  seen  in  what  a  simple  and  sublime  harmony  the  invisible 
4* 


II 


[0^ 


44 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


■A 


force  of  nature  cleviites  vapors  from  the  sea,  forms  them  into 
cloud  balloons  in  the  upper  atmosphere,  and  transports  them  on 
currents  of  air  over  the  continents  :  how  these  become  condensed 
and  distil  themselves  over  the  face  of  the  land  in  the  form  of 
irrigating  rains.  This  water,  having  performed  its  renovating 
duty,  by  filtering  through  the  surface  soil,  begins  again  to  collect, 
first  in  remote  hollows  and  undulations ;  these  unite  into  rivulets ; 
rivulets  into  larger  streams ;  streams  into  rivers ;  rivers  into  the 
great  fresh  water  trovjhs,  which  return  this  drainage  from  the 
land,  to  mix  with  the  salt  of  the  ocean,  to  be  renovated  and  per- 
form again  their  part  in  the  circulation  of  nature.  Now  the  use 
of  public  works  to  human  society,  is  the  same  as  are  her  works 
to  nature ;  to  bring  in  and  distribute  clothing  and  groceries ;  to 
collect  and  carry  out  surplus  food  and  productions  of  every 
variety.  In  the  transferring  to  and  fro  of  the  waters  of  the 
universe,  nature  accomplishes  as  much  heavy  transportation  in  a 
few  hours,  as  will  suffice  the  social  wants  of  America  for  a  century. 
This,  then,  is  all  that  is  sound  in  civil  engineering,  and  compre- 
hends all  the  good  that  it  lias,  and  can  do,  for  human  society : — 
to  select  those  water-grades  where,  in  further  imitation  of  nature, 
human  energy  may  smooth  the  asperities  and  economically  adapt 
to  use  the  curves  and  grades  with  which  she  has  everywhere  fur- 
nished the  face  of  the  land. 

Thus,  then,  to  recapitulate  and  sum  up  the  array  of  facts 
which  concentrate  themselves  to  decide  the  location  of  the  Con- 
tinental Railway.  Nature  and  all  sound  human  experience 
unite  to  select  the  water-grade  of  the  Platte  and  Snake  rivers,  and 
against  any  departure  from  it.  If  this  route  deflects  at  all  from 
an  exact  centraliti/,  it  is  to  the  south,  and  not  towards  the  north, 
that  it  bears.  Its  two  halves  diverging  from  the  centre,  give  the 
shortest  lines  to  the  sea,  through  the  countries  and  populations 
where  the  work  to  be  done  is  the  greatest,  and  the  necessity  foi 


i   § 


ii    t; 


MEMORANDA  ON   THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


45 


I  4 


it,  most  immediate,  pressing,  and  lasting.  One-half  is  located 
and  under  construction.  As  a  through  road  it  ib  the  shortest  line 
across  North  America,  most  conveniently  connecting  Asia  and 
Europe.  Though  meandering  amomj  immense  mountain  chains, 
it  passes  them  all  by  tunnels  completely  made  by  nature.  Nulth^r 
snow  nor  rain,  nor  great  rivers,  embarrass  either  its  construction 
or  its  after-use  :  the  climate  is.  pre-eminently  propitious ;  material 
to  construct  is  conveniently  at  hand,  at  easy  intervals  on  the 
right  and  left;  fuel  and  water  abundant  for  ever;  the  pastoral 
excellence  of  the  whole  region,  combined  with  a  dry  atmosphere 
and  health,  supplying  meat-food  and  transportation  indefinitely, 
will  render  easy  the  immediate  influx  and  residence  of  an  im- 
mense population.  The  vicinity  where  the  great  Sierra  Madre 
is  penetrated,  and  where  five  great  rivers  have  their  sources 
together,  is  prodigiously  prolific  in  salt,  hard  rock  for  architecture 
and  paving,  medicinal  hot  springs,  all  the  precious  metals  and 
jewels,  furs,  lumber,  and  the  hides  of  animals. 

If  I,  have  delineated  with  any  success,  and  explained  correctly 
the  features  of  nature,  in  geography,  climate,  and  topography, 
there  remains  to  examine  the  bearing  upon  this  work  of  the  com- 
bined hostile  influence  of  ocean  commerce  allied  with  politics. 
Why  this  great  central  route,  successfully  opened  in  the  time  of 
Jefiierson  and  by  the  energy  of  Astor,  was  attacked,  stopped,  and 
finally  shut  %ip,  under  President  Monroe,  and  its  reopening  still 
hampered  and  postponed  by  the  same  remorseless  and  relentless 
enemies! 


I  .IS 
,  ■.'■ili 


f 


i' 


4 


'I: 


¥ 


1,1 


I   > 


46 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  UEOION. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    MOUNTAIN    FORMATION    OF    NORTH    AMERICA— THE 
GREAT  TABLE-LANUS— GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES. 

I  HAVE  clscwlicrc  given  you  a  sketch  of  one  of  the  cardinal 
subdivi.sioiis  of  our  continent  and  country,  the  Cheat  Plains.  I 
now  proceed  to  .sketch  what  i.s  beyond  them,  and  Gils  the  space 
out  to  the  PaciCc  Sea.  This  is  the  immense  Mountain  Forma- 
tion OF  North  America. 

I  approach  the  attempt  to  classify  and  set  down  this  region 
with  a  degree  of  trepidation,  which  I  find  it  difficult  to  master. 
During  the  years  of  war  and  exploration  which  I  have  passed 
among  thorn,  every  hour  has  kept  alive  the  awe  in.spircd  by  the 
immensity  of  the  space  they  occupy,  the  grandeur  of  their  bulk 
and  altitude,  and  the  sublime  order  and  symmetry  which  pervades 
them  as  a  system,  and  in  the  details.  Moreover,  no  one,  not 
even  Humboldt,  has  ever  attempted  to  reduce  them  to  a  classic 
system,  or  assented  to  what  I  have  done  in  the  Ilydrographic 
Map  of  1845,  which  you  have  seen  and  studied.  These  indelibly- 
graved  impressions  perpetually  recur  whenever  my  memory  reverts 
to  that  time,  and  warns  me  to  speak  of  count  ies  so  novel  to  a 
public  little  curious  and  uninformed,  only  after  condensing  their 
portrait  with  the  maturcst  meditation  and  with  nicely-guarded 
caution. 

The  mountain  formation  of  North  America  is  that  distinct  sub- 
division of  its  area  which  occupies  the  whole  space  from  the  Great 
Plains  to  the  Pacific  Sea,  and  covers  two-sevenths  of  the  continent. 
In  its  superficial  contents,  bulk,  number  and  variety  of  the  moun- 
tain masses,  it  equals  the  aggregated  mountains  of  all  the  other 
continents.     It  has  peculiar  characteristics,  which  render  it  more 


i 


i 

1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

i 

1 

i 

W  II 


V 


A 


4r-r 


\ 


\     \ 


MOUNTAIN    FOUMATJON    OF    NOIITII    AMERICA,    KTC.         47 


jly 


k'crHolv  across 
10  broaUth  is 


from 


iutorcstiiij^  tliuii  them  all.  Travelling  Iran; 
oast  to  west  along  the  tliirty-ninth  degree, 
miles;  the  length,  continuous  from  Tehuantepeo  to  the  Arctic 
Sea,  is  4.'J00  miles ;  the  direction  is  regular  from  Kouth-south- 
east  to  north-north-west.  From  cast  to  west  the  traveller  enters 
and  crosses  five  physical  divisions,  as  distinct  in  order  and  suc- 
cession as  are  the  prismatic  streaks  of  the  rainbow  to  the  eye. 
These  arc:  1st.  The  IJlaek  Hills,  or  Eastern  Piedmont;  2d. 
The  Cordillera  of  tho  Sierra  3Iadrc  (Roclcy  Mountain);  od.  The 
Plateau  of  tho  Table-Lauds,  with  its  mountain  chains;  4th.  Tho 
('ordillcra  of  tho  Snowy  Andes  (tho  Sierra  Netada) ;  f)th.  Tho 
JIaritimc  Piedmont,  of  the  Pacific  Shore.  These  divisions  are 
parallel  to  one  another  like  tho  streaks  of  the  rainbow,  and,  like 
them,  run  throughout  from  end  to  end  of  the  mountain  furma- 
tioti,  in  which  they  arc  blended  together  in  one  embodied  mass. 

Beyond  tho  central  line  of  the  Great  P'  Tins,  the  undulations 
of  tho  surface  begin  to  swell  up,  until  they  become  elevated 
into  secondary  mountain.s,  with  timber,  and  crowned  with  rocky 
escarpments.  These  are  the  Black  Hills.  They  are  the  out- 
liers of  tho  Sierra  Madrc,  are  in  tho  Basin  of  tho  Mississippi, 
and,  masking  tho  mountain  crest,  break  and  graduate  its  descent. 
They  are  300  miles  in  breadth,  arc  perforated  across  by  all  the 
great  rivers,  and  are  washed  away  and  tortured  into  fragments 
by  their  channels.  They  have  rocks  ->f  porphyritic  granite  and 
sandstone,  but  are  for  the  most  part  formed  of  the  sulphate  of 
lime,  as  gypsum  or  plaster  of  Paris.  Some  of  them  are  paved 
with  petrifactions,  and  others,  being  composed  of  light  mould, 
form  the  suspended  matter  of  the  rivers,  which  goes  down  to 
make  the  alluvial  bottoms  and  delta  of  tho  Mississippi  Basin. 
They  have  but  little  snow  or  rain,  a  scattered  growth  of  dwarfed 
timber,  and  a  picturesque  and  fantastic  scenery.  They  are  an 
important  part  of  the  pastoral  region,  are  clothed  in  perennial 


;V' 


t 


lit 


Pi 


t, 


■■<■■.  "^. 


I   A  \  • 


/'     lit.  -.^^    <'       '^ 


B  A 


I'll,,//,:  ',\% 


(     ft    <5l        |V   GREAT   MOUNTAIN         '. 

•^  '    {\  Sfii^iuiicllil  BASIN                     -^  ~   \\ 

^'          i  *'  «i  BASIN            ^-    ^   ,1 

S.,11  l^i^H^ri<«««^  ^  ^  O F  HIGH     CALIFORrdAw 

rt      St        \x.  '"' 


,'  ■-,  .,.w<**ii'    ■■■■  ^  I 

V--      COLO  RiA  DA  B  A  *  I  N 


ElOUTX 


^  /i 


//  r*aiiif  .JV* -^ 


^~^  '  ^^<- V     (BASIN)  \ 


^l^,\    \An.,K-'J*'     -U         nori\e  m^    -^•^.~/^^y,.^.n\  ^ 


/^.■% 


I  :flu  <hj 


-     ^ 


(1     r     A     f 


.»/     /;      v     /     (      0 


Uytlio«4r«i|)lii<'     .Miip 
ol    IIk' 

M(H  NTAIX    1  OUMA'I  ION 

NOIIT51    AMKIUC  A. 

Sower.Hanii  s   I'l    t" 
I'l.il" 


ii 


48 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


grass,  and  abound  in  aboriginal  cattle.  Perpetual  sunshine,  fer- 
tility, perfect  health,  pure  and  abundant  water,  ever-varying 
scenery,  and  infinite  animal  life,  will,  in  time,  attract  and  fix  here 
the  densest  population. 

Over  the  Black  Hills  rises  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra 
Madre.  Tliis  supreme  Cordillera  may  be  defined  as  the  backbone 
of  the  world;  it  is  the  "  divostia  aquarum"  of  the  American  con- 
tinent. From  the  snows  of  its  immense  crest  and  flanks  descend  the 
rivers  that  irrigate  either  face  of  the  continent  out  to  all  the  oceans. 
From  it  also  branch  off  all  the  other  mountain  chains.  Where 
the  irrigation  from  tlie  snows  is  sufficient,  immense  forests  exist ; 
elsewhere  the  mountains  are  naked.  The  core  or  basis  of  the 
Sierra  3Iadrc  is  red  porphyritic  granite,  from  the  immense  naked 
masses  of  which  comes  the  popular  sobriquet  of  ''  Rocky  Moun- 
tains." This  is  the  gold-producing  quartz.  The  Sierra  Madre 
has  precipitous  mural  flanks,  which  protrude  outward  as  promon- 
tories, or  recede  to  encase  the  courses  of  rivers  and  valleys.  It 
has  peaks,  conical  in  shape  and  culminating  by  a  sharp  apex. 
To  those  who  view  it  in  the  horizon  from  below,  this  is  its  general 
appearance ;  but  to  those  who  ascend  its  ragged  front  and  sur- 
mount its  highest  crest,  this  is  found  to  be  a  3Iesa  or  indefinite 
table-land  as  level  as  a  water  .^  .rface.  This  Sierra  Madre  has  its 
own  characteristics,  which  are  all  of  the  grandest  order,  I  am 
unable  to  illustrate  it  by  comparison,  because  it  stands  supreme 
and  alone,  the  standard  to  which  all  other  mountain  masses  must 
be  submitted.  It  is  of  the  original  mass  of  the  globe,  and  has 
neither  lava,  nor  craters,  nor  active  volcanoes,  nor  traces  of  the 
igneous  force  within.  It  is  par  excellence  primeval.  Scooped 
out  of  its  main  mass  are  valleys  of  great  size  and  beauty,  which 
have  received  from  the  trappers  the  name  of  Pares.  These 
occur  at  regular  intervals,  alternately  upon  either  flank,  and 
mark  the  sources  of  the  great  rivers.    Those  which  I  have  seen 


MOUNTAIN    FOUMATION    OF    NORTH    AMERICA,    ETC.         49 


are  the  Plain  of  the  South  Pass,  surrounding  the  sources  of  the 
Rio  Verde ;  the  North  Pare  upon  the  Northern  Platte  or  Ne- 
braska river;  the  Middle  Pare  upon  the  Rio  Grande  of  the  Westj 
the  South  Pare  upon  the  Southern  Platte  j  the  Plain  of  St.  Louis 
upon  the  Rio  del  Norte.  These  remarkable  valleys  are  all 
secluded  within  the  main  dorsal  mass  of  the  Cordillera,  and  are  of 
great  size,  fertility,  and  beauty.  They  resemble  those  reservoirs 
of  the  Alpine  torrents  of  Switzerland,  Geneva,  and  Consf'-.nce, 
out  of  which  issue  the  rivers  Rhone  and  Rhine,  and  the  valley 
of  Kashmere,  through  which  the  Indus  flows,  though  they  con- 
tain no  lakes.  They  are  the  paradise  of  the  aboriginal  herds,. 
with  which  they  swarm  at  all  seasons,  and  are  the  favorite  retreats 
of  the  Indians.  To  define  the  exact  width  of  the  primary  Cor- 
dillera, and  mark  the  line  where  it  fades  into  the  Black  Hills 
upon  the  east,  and  into  the  plateau  of  the  table-lands  upon  the 
west,  is  not  easy;  but  it  varies  from  100  to  250  miles,  accord- 
ing as  it  expands  into  salient  promontories,  or  recedes  to  give 
passage  to  the  rivers. 

We  next  descend  on  to  the  third  division,  which  is  the  Plattau 
OF  THE  Table  Lands.  This  expands  onward  to  the  Cordillera 
of  the  Snowy  Andes.  I  speak  again  with  great  diflB>  v.,  but  of 
all  the  departments  into  which  science  has  arranged  thi  physical 
geography  of  the  globe,  this  appears  to  me  the  most  interestin 
the  most  crowded  with  various  and  attractive  features,  and  the 
most  certainly  destined  eventually  to  contain  the  most  enlight- 
ened and  powerful  empire  of  the  world.  At  present  it  is  no 
more  known  or  comprehended,  as  it  is,  by  the  American  people 
than  was  America  itself  to  the  poet  Homer,  and  is  to  them  as 
much  a  myth  as  the  continent  of  Atalanta.  Nevertheless  it  is  of 
such  great  area  as  to  contain  within  itself  three  rivers  which  rank 
with  the  Ganges  and  Danube  in  size,  and  five  great  ranges  of 
primary  mountains.     You  will  see  it  exactly  defined  upon  the 


^1 


i 

m 

•55 


■  !'■■, 


Ui 


50 


THK   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


bydrographic  map  of  1845,  as  the  immense  longitudinal  region, 
encased  within  the  Cordilleras  and  extending  from  Tchuantepec 
to  the  Northern  Sea.  It  would  exhaust  a  largo  volume  to  reciie 
in  detail  the  interesting  features  of  this  region,  all  worthy  to  be 
known. 

The  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands  is  a  succession  of  intra- 
montane  basins,  seven  in  number,  and  ranging  successively  from 
south  to  north.  The  solid  mass  of  the  Andes  debouches  out  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantcpcc,  and  forks  immediately  into  the  two  Cor- 
dilleras. AdvanciniT;  alone;  the  Western  Cordillera  into  the  state  of 
Jalisco,  a  mountain  chain  issues  from  its  inner  flank,  and,  travers- 
ing the  Table  Lands,  plunges  into  the  Sierra  Madre,  in  the  state 
of  San  Luis  Potosi.  This  cuts  off  to  the  south  the  "  Basin  of  the 
city  of  Mexico,"  which  is  i\\c  first,  the  smallest,  and  most  southern 
of  the  mountain  basins.  Further  north,  a  second  mountain  chain 
crosses  from  Durango  to  Coahuila,  and  cuts  off  the  "  Basin  of  the 
Bolson  di  Mapimi.''  This  is  the  second  mountain  basin.  The 
Cordilleras,  which  flank  these  two  and  fence  them  from  the  sea, 
have  so  tr^'^at  an  altitude  that  the  ocean  vapors  never  surmount 
their  crests,  nor  do  any  clouds  pnss  outward  over  them.  These 
basins,  therefore,  have  no  outward  drainage,  nor  any  rivers  run- 
ning to  the  sea.  Stagnant  lakes  alternately  receive  the  drainage 
from  their  surrounding  mountains,  and  yield  it  to  them  again  by 
evaporation.  This  last  chain  is  known  as  the  "  Mountain  of  the 
Rio  Florida;"  the  former  as  the  "  Mountain  of  Queretaro." 

Pursuing  still  the  Western  Cordillera  through  the  state  of 
Sinaloa,  a  third  mountain  chain,  dividing  off,  traverses  the  Table 
Lands  due  north,  and  plunges  into  the  Sierra  Madre,  between 
the  plain  of  St.  Louis  and  the  Middle  Pare.  This  is  an  immense 
and  remarkable  mountain,  is  1300  miles  in  length,  and  divides 
asunder  the  waters  of  the  Del  Norte  and  Colorado.  It  is  the 
famous  Sierra  Mimbres.     The  area  thus  cut  off  between  it  and 


MOUNTAIN    FORMATION   OF   NORTH   AMERICA,   ETC.         51 

the  mountain  of  the  Rio  Florida  is  drained  by  the  rivers  Del 
Norte,  Pecos,  and  Conchos,  which,  uniting  at  the  base  of  the 
Sierra  Madre,  perforate  it  by  a  canon,  and  escaping  into  the 
external  maritime  region,  form  the  Rio  Grande  of  Texas.  This 
is  the  only  water-course  which  perforates  the  Sierra  Madre  be- 
tween Cape  Horn  and  the  Arctic  Sea.  It  is  here  that  a  profound 
and  distressing  error  pervades  all  the  existing  charts  and  delinea- 
tions of  our  continental  geography.  Those,  omitting  the  great 
Sierra  Madre  for  600  or  700  miles  of  its  length,  and  assigning 
its  name  to  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  locate  the  Rio  del  Norte  and  its 
vast  basin  with  the  system  of  Atlantic  rivers.  Yet  the  Sierra 
Mimbres  abounds  in  pcdrigals  of  lava,  craters,  and  volcanic 
phenomena,  and  the  geological  altitude,  configuration,  and  a 
thousand  palpable  characteristic  features  of  the  basin  of  the  Del 
Norte,  locate  them  upon  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands.  This 
blunder  of  transposition  is  more  foolish  than  to  construct  a  map 
of  Europe  and  forget  the  Alps,  or  to  draw  for  the  people  a  pine 
tree  growing  erect  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  whilst  dolphins 
graze  upon  a  mountain  slope  !  The  vast  basin  of  the  Del  Norte 
is  then  the  third  in  order  of  the  mountain  basins  of  the  Plateau. 
The  Western  Cordillera  continues  to  traverse  Sonora,  and, 
passing  round  the  Gulf  of  California,  reappears  in  sight  of  the 
ocean  in  the  state  of  California.  Opposite  San  Bernardo  another 
mountain  chain  branches  from  its  eastern  flank,  traverses  the 
Table  Lands  by  a  northern  course,  dividing  the  waters  of  the 
\^'olorado  and  Great  Salt  Lnke,  and  plunges  into  the  Sierra  Madre 
between  the  sources  of  Green  river  and  Snake  river.  This  is  the 
fourth  great  mountain  chain  of  the  Table  Lands,  is  1000  miles  in 
length,  and  is  the  Sierra  Wasatch.  Between  it  and  the  Sierra 
Mimbres  is  included  the  immense  3Iountain  Basin  of  the  Co- 
lorado, which  is  the  fourth  subdivision  of  the  area  of  the  Table 
Lands.  This  basin  has  an  immense  area,  great  altitude,  an 
6  D 


ll 


''t' 


L  b  Is  i »'  J..  1 


62 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


iufiolto  perplexity  of  mountains,  and  is  redundant  in  striking 
and  wonderful  novelties.  The  Rio  Verde,  Rio  Grande  of  the 
West,  the  Rio  San  Juan,  collect  its  upper  waters,  and,  uniting 
against  the  inner  flank  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Snowy  Andes, 
gorge  it  diagonally  through  and  through,  and  escape  into  the 
Gulf  of  California.  This  sublime  gorge  is  400  miles  in  length, 
and  is  known  as  the  "  Canon  of  the  Colorado."  It  is  throughout 
a  narrow  mountain  chasm,  traversing,  without  interruption,  the 
very  bowels  of  the  Andes,  having  perpendicular  mural  sides, 
often  many  thousand  feet  in  altitude.  Other  important  affluents 
of  the  Colorado  (the  Mohabe,  the  Little  Colorado,  and  the  Gila), 
force  their  way  into  it  by  an  infinite  labyrinth  of  gorges,  similarly 
scooped  through  the  bowels  of  the  mountain  mass.  These  two 
remarkable  basins  then — the  Del  Norte  and  Colorado — lie  against 
the  Sierra  Mimbres,  as  a  backbone.  The  waters  of  the  first  gorge 
the  Sierra  Madre  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexjco ;  those  of  the  second,  the 
Andes,  to  the  Gulf  of  California;  but  no  gorge  unites  them 
through  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  which  is  unperforated.  These 
basins  are  both  longitudinal  in  shape  and  position;  they  overlap 
one  another,  and  thereby  multiply  the  number  and  complexity  of 
mountain  barriers.  Among  the  physical  phenomena  of  the  globe, 
this  "  Caiion  of  the  Colorado"  is  an  isolated  fact,  unique  and 
sublime  in  interest.  These  two  basins  are,  par  excellence,  the 
metalliferous  department  of  the  world,  and  are  infused  through- 
out with  mountains  of  the  precious  stones,  and  precious  and 
base  metaJs — of  lava,  obsidian,  and  marble — of  salt,  coal,  and 
with  rivers  of  thermal  and  medicinal  waters. 

Let  me  hasten  to  other  subdivisions  of  equal  interest.  Near 
the  forty-second  degree  of  latitude,  the  Western  Cordillera  throws 
oflF  the  Jifth  mountain  chain  of  the  Table  Lands.  This  has  a 
serpentine  course,  mainly  east  and  west,  is  12Q0  miles  long,  and 
forms  the  division  between  the  basin  of  the  Salt  Lake  and  the 


MOUNTAIN    FORMATION    OP   NORTH   AMERICA,    ETC, 


r)3 


basin  of  the  Columbia.  It  joins  with  the  Sierra  Wasatch,  and 
immediately  at  the  point  of  junction,  plunges  with  it  into  the 
Sierra  Madrc.  The  great  basin,  containing  in  one  of  its  dopros- 
sioos  the  Salt  Lake,  is  the  counterpart,  on  our  continent,  (  '  the 
Caspian  of  Asia.  It  is,  like  the  first  and  second  basins,  encased 
all  around  with  an  unperforated  mountain  wall,  and  neither  sends 
nor  receives  water  from  any  sea.  Nearly  opposite  to  Piiiict's 
Sound,  a  sixth  chain  of  mountains,  breaking  oflF  from  the  eastern 
flank  of  the  Western  Cordillera,  traverses  the  Table  Lands  by  a 
due  northern  course,  and  sinks  into  the  Sierra  Madre,  closely 
enveloping  the  sources  of  the  Columbia  river.  This  is  called  the 
Okennagan  Mountains,  and  divides  the  waters  of  the  Colum- 
bia from  those  of  Frazer's  river. 

The  Basin  of  the  Columbia  is  the  sioctJi  in  order  of  the 
basins  of  the  Table  Lands.  It  is  the  most  admirable  of  them  all. 
A  splendid  circular  configuration  and  two  primary  rivers.  Its 
size,  position,  and  configuration,  relatively  to  the  Blississippi  Valley 
and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  make  it  the  ilite  of  them  all.  It  extends 
all  across  the  Table  Lands  from  rim  to  rim,  as  do  both  its  great 
rivers — the  Snake  river  and  the  Columbia — which  uniting,  oora:e 
the  Andes  at  the  Cascades,  penetrating  through  them  to  the 
Pacific  in  46°  19'.  They  run  from  east  to  west,  and  connect 
exactly  by  convenient  and  single  passes  across  the  Sierra  Madre, 
with  the  great  rivers  flowing  down  to  the  Atlantic.  It  partakes  of 
all  the  cardinal  characteristics  of  the  other  basins,  having,  in  addi- 
tion, mighty  forests,  navigation,  a  larger  share  of  arable  qualities, 
and  a  superior  economy  in  its  topographical  surface  and  position. 

Such  are  the  six  primary  basins  and  mountain  chains  »vluch 
chequer  and  arrange  themselves  into  the  Grand  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands,  as  I  have  seen  them  and  become  familiar  with 
them.  There  is  a  seventh,  the  basin  of  Frazer's  river,  with  which 
I  am  acquainted  only  from  the  reports  of  others  who  have  recon- 


: 


■ifi 


i   Li 


I' 


I  '■'• 


64 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REOION. 


li 


noitercd  it.  It  bus  the  same  general  features,  though  smaller, 
longitudinal  in  direction,  and  narrow. 

We  may  now,  then,  return  to  the  third  elementary  division  of  the 
mountain  formation  of  North  America,  namely:  The  Plateau 
OF  THE  Table  Lands.  Wo  may  understand  its  variety  and  vast- 
ness,  yet  handle  it  as  a  unit.  The  lowest  sedimentary  points, 
which  the  waters  accumulate  from  the  lakes  of  Mexico,  Mappimi, 
Gusman,  and  Salt  Lake,  have  an  average  altitude  of  GOOO  feet 
above  the  seas.  The  whole  Plateau  has  then  the  elevation  of  a 
primary  mountain.  It  is  everywhere  fertile,  being  pastoral  for 
the  most  part,  but  arable  whore  irrigation  is  adopted.  Every 
geological  formation  exists  on  a  Titanic  scale,  volcanoes,  columnar 
basalt  and  pedrigals  of  crystallized  lava,  porphyritic  granite  and 
sandstone,  and  secondary  basins  of  the  sulphate  and  carbonate  of 
lime.  It  is  universally  a  rainless  region,  and  nowhere  is  arable 
agriculture  possible  without  artificial  irrigation.  Pastoral  culture 
is  the  prominent  feature,  wherein  it  rivals  the  Great  Plains.  The 
air  is  tonic  and  exhilarating — the  atmosphere  resplendent  with 
perpetual  sunshine  by  day  and  with  stars  by  night.  The  climate 
is  intensely  dry,  and  the  temperature  variant  and  delicious. 
Habitations  are  not  essential  in  this  salubrious  and  vernal  clime; 
the  aborigines  dispense  with  them.  During  three  years  that  I 
have  passed  upon  the  Plateau,  I  have  rarely  slept  within  a  house 
or  beneath  any  canopy  but  the  sky,  infinitely  spangled  with  stars. 
Upon  this  Plateau  has  existed,  within  our  memory,  the  populous 
and  civilized  empire  of  the  Aztecs,  and  in  South  America  that 
of  the  Incas.  Timber  grows  upon  the  rivers  and  upon  the  irri- 
gated mountain  flanks.  To  arrange  the  arable  lands  for  irrigation 
is  not  more  costly  than  our  system  of  fencing,  which  it  super- 
sedes.   No  portion  of  the  globe  can  maintain  a  denser  population. 

But  the  fourth  subdivision  of  the  "  Mountain  Formation  of 
North  America"  is  the  Snowy  Cordillera  of  the  Andes. 


MOUNTAIN    FORMATION    OP   NORTH   AMERICA,   ETC.         55 

Everybody  is  familiar,  from  cliildhcoJ,  with  the  South  Americaa 
Andes.  This  of  oursi  is  the  same,  unchanged  in  any  characteristic, 
except  an  increased  and  superior  grandeur.  Let  us  restore  to  it 
its  ancient  and  illustrious  name!  Let  us  inquire  how  it  has 
come  temporarily  to  bo  lost !  The  Andes  traverse  the  American 
continent,  in  one  unbroken  and  uniform  mass,  from  Cape  Horn 
to  Bhering's  Strait.  Towards  the  ocean,  to  whoso  indented 
shore  they  are  parallel,  and  from  which  they  are  everywhere 
visible,  they  present  a  precipitous  front  and  immense  altitude ; 
they  everywhere  surmount  the  lino  of  perpetual  snow.  Upon 
this  front,  which  receives  the  perpetual  winds  from  the  ocean 
and  is  bathed  with  its  vapors,  cuows  and  forests  accimulate  as 
upon  the  Alps.  But  on  their  summit  of  perpetual  congelation, 
these  vapors,  condensed  to  ice,  are  as  solid,  as  perpetual  as  the 
granite  rocks.  No  vapors  pass  over  to  the  inner  region,  which 
is  naked  of  snow,  timber,  or  irrigation.  Hence  has  come  this 
distinctive  Spanish  sobriquet  of  this  sublime  sea-wall — Cordillera 
Nevada  de  los  Andes  (the  snoicy  chain  of  the  Andes) — to  define 
it  specifically  from  the  naked  masses  within !  Thus,  since  this 
ancient  and  familiar  Andes  has  come  to  be  domesticated  in  our 
empire,  within  the  states  of  California  and  Oregon,  has  it  been 
thoughtlessly  plundered  of  its  name,  defined  only  by  an  expletive, 
snoivy,  and  incontinently  ignored  of  its  supreme,  coronated  rank 
in  the  mountain  system  of  the  world. 

If,  then,  you  require  from  me  a  description  of  this  fourth 
subdivision  of  our  mountain  formation,  I  bid  you  to  peruse  again 
the  fascinating  pages  of  Prescott  and  his  predecessors ;  the 
romantic  historians  of  Cortez,  Alvarado,  and  Pizarro;  and, 
above  all,  the  oracular  inspiration  with  which  the  illustrious 
Humboldt  has  analyzed  the  geographical  wonders  of  this  Cordil- 
lera of  the  Snowy  Andes,  and  tinted  them  with  divine  eloquence  ! 

Finally,  I  am  bewildered  how  to  speak  of  the  Jl/th  subdivision, 

5* 


66 


THE   CENTRAL   ClOLD   IlKOION. 


which  is  the  PaciI'IC  ]Maiutime  Fiiont.  This  brings  us  out  to 
meet  tho  ocean,  to  bloiid  together  the  varieties  of  sea  and  hiud, 
and  where,  among  tho  assembled  cUmates  and  countries  of  the 
globe,  Cornucopia  permanently  dwells  with  hor  ever-redundant 
and  overflowing  horn  of  ripening  beauty  and  plenty.  This  Pacific 
Maritime  Front  is  the  counterpart  of  that  outside  of  tho  Alleghany 
and  upon  the  Atlantic.  It  is  the  tide-water  region.  The  Atlantic 
Front  has  an  area  of  271,000  square  miles,  this  of  420,000; 
it  is  not  much  broader  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea,  but  has 
a  greater  longitude.  In  every  detail  of  climate,  vegetation,  soil, 
and  physical  formation,  there  is  between  these  two  seaboards  the 
completest  contrast.  On  the  Pacific  arc  blended,  beneath  the 
eye,  and  swept  in  at  one  sight,  the  sublime,  castellated  masses 
of  the  Andes — their  bases  are  set  in  the  emerald  verdure  of  the 
plain,  rising  gently  above  the  sea  level — their  middle  flanks  are 
clothed  with  the  arborescent  grandeur  of  pine  and  cedar  forests. 
Naked  above  and  towering  into  tho  upper  air,  their  columnar 
form  of  structure  resembles  an  edifice  designed  to  enclose  tho 
whole  globe  itself;  but  from  this  foundation,  and  rearing  their 
snow-covered  crests  another  mile  into  tho  firmament,  shoot  up 
volcanic  peaks  at  intervals  of  one  hundred  miles,  incasing  the 
throats  of  the  inner  world  of  fire,  and  coruscated  in  perpetual 
snow,  beneath  coronets  of  volcanic  smoke  and  flames. 

The  sublimest  of  the  oceans,  majestic  rivers  more  worthy  to  be 
deified  than  the  Ganges  or  Egyptian  Nile ;  the  grandest  and  most 
elevated  of  earth's  mountains ;  superlative  forest  evergreen ;  an 
emerald  verdure  and  exuberant  fertility ;  a  mellow  and  delicious 
atmosphere,  imbued  with  purple  tints  reflected  from  the  ocean 
and  the  mountains ;  a  soft  vernal  temperature  the  year  round ; 
whatsoever  can  be  combined  of  massive  and  rugged  mountains, 
picturesque  landscape,  and  a  verdant  face  to  nature  shining 
under  the  richest  sunlight,  a  climate  soft  and  serene ;  whatsoever 


THE   CORDILLEHA   OF   THE   SIERRA  MADRE. 


57 


/ 


of  all  these,  blended  and  enjoyed  in  combination,  will  accomplish 
to  give  grace,  elevation,  and  reflncnicnt  to  the  social  world,  arc 
here  united  to  woo  and  develope  the  genius  of  our  country  and 
our  people.  ^ 

In  all  these  natural  favors  our  western  seaboard  front  is 
Bupremcly  more  gifted  than  the  classic  shores  of  the  3Icditcrra- 
nean  and  the  Asian  Seas,  for  flfty  centuries  the  favorite  theme 
of  history,  poetry,  and  song.  The  embelli.sluncnts  which  old  society 
and  the  accumulating  contributions  of  a  hundred  successive 
generations  add  to  nature,  are  not  yet  there ;  but  these  will  come, 
and  to  us  who  fan  the  career  of  our  great  country  whilst  we  live, 
the  future,  which  posterity  will  possess  and  enjoy,  is  full  of  the 
radiance  of  true  glory. 

Such  is  a  homespun  and  laconic  detail  of  a  few  essential  facts 
necessary  to  comprehend  the  "Mountain  Formation  of  North 
America,"  and  to  know  where  and  what  it  is.  The  subject  is 
above  the  reach  of  imagination  or  ornament,  and  of  a  higher 
level.  Intelligent  and  candid  judgment  must  supply  the  rest 
and  fill  up  the  portrait. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  CORDILLERA  OF  THE  SIERRA  MADRE. 

This  is  an  immense  department  of  our  country,  of  primary 
significance  and  interest.  Vaguely  denominated  as  the  "  Stony 
or  Rocky  Mountains,"  occupying  an  inhospitable  waste  beyond 
the  energies  of  social  adventure,  mankind  has  heretofore  heard 
the  name  with  indifference,  and  all  minute  details  with  dogmatic 
aversion.  To  establish  its  title  to  esteem  in  the  popular  opinion 
of  the  world,  the  complete  reverse  of  this,  is  my  object. 


m 


! 


h 


t.  -*', 


58 


THE    fKNTIlAIi    (lOM)   ItKOION. 


Prominent  in  tho  "  iMountiiin  Sy.stom  of  'ihc  Globe"  is  an  iin- 
incnsc  pirdio  of  mountiiins,  granitic  in  fonnatiun,  croHtcJ  with 
nnow,  having  volcanoes  on  its  flanivs,  and  auriferous  luriughout. 
Tliis  coiuMicnces  at  Capo  Horn,  traverses  tho  wholo  length  of 
America  to  lihcrin;,";'s  Strait,  traverses  Asia  aud  Europo  to  tho 
Pillars  of  Hercules,  traverses  Africa  and  appears  in  tho  islands 
of  3Iadairascar,  Australasia,  aud  Now  Zealand.  If  tho  sintrle 
strait  of  Hercules  were  closed,  and  Suez  opened,  this  continuous 
mountain  crest  would  exactly  contain  all  tho  salt  and  fresh 
waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  a  closed  circle,  und  divide  them 
from  those  of  the  Atlantic. 

This  continuous  girdle  becomes,  in  some  localities,  very  jmuch 
condensed  in  breadth  and  altitude,  as  at  the  Isthmus  of  Central 
America,  and  in  Franco.  Elsewhere  it  assumes  immense  expan- 
sion in  area  and  altitude,  .spreading  out  and  elevfi'lug  itself  into 
tho  continental  plateau,  which  occupies  tho  whole  of  Central 
Asia,  and  the  still  grander  "  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands"  of  our 
North  America.  Tho  "  mountain  formation  of  North  America" 
is,  then,  aa  important  section  of  this  immonso  girdle,  which 
bisects  all  the  continents.  It  has  an  area,  a  massiveness  and 
altitude,  a  position  and  climate,  a  fertility,  a  variety  which  blends 
all  the  peculiarities  of  all  other  sections,  a  simplicity  of  configu- 
ration, and  a  sublimity  of  profile  which  transcends  all  tho  rest. 
Thus,  in  the  "  Cordillera  Nevada  do  los  Andes"  is  found  tho  full 
equivalent  of  the  South  American  mountains,  volcanoes,  active 
and  extinct,  crowned  with  glaciers  and  of  immonso  altitude,  bat- 
tlements of  columnar  basalt,  podrigals  of  lava,  subterranean  and 
thermal  streams.  The  plateau  and  its  primary  chains  outrival  in 
area  and  interest  those  of  South  America  and  Asia  combined. 
Finally,  the  stern  and  stupendous  masses  of  tho  Himalaya  find 
themselves  surpassed  by  the  primeval  bulk,  the  prodigious  length 
and  breadth,  the  immense  mesas,  tho  romantic  pares,  the  far  pro- 


i 


THE   CORDir.LF.n.V   OF    TIIR   SIERRA    MAPRF, 


59 


trutling  slunos,  an  J  tlic  'louJ-couipoUing  icy  peaks  of  tho  Cordil- 
lera of  tho  yierra  Madro. 

"The  Chain  of  tho  Mother  Mountain"  is  tho  pcnoric  nnino 
\vhi(;h  piety  awards  ti  I'lis  continuous  crest,  down  whose  flanli.s 
descend  all  the  feeders  of  tho  oceans.  Let  mo  name  thoin  :  tho 
Athabasca,  the  Saskatch(!wan,  tho  supremo  ^lississippi,  tlio 
Texan  rivers,  and  tho  lUo  (jrando  del  Norte,  tho  Frasor,  tho 
Columbia,  and  the  Colorado  in  the  northern  continent.  In  tho 
southern,  tlio  Magdalena,  tho  Oronoco,  the  Amazon,  tho  La 
I'lata,  the  Patagonia  rivers,  and  those  of  the  PaelBc  .slope  !  Is 
not  this  Cordillera  then  riglitly  called  tho  Mother  of  Kivers? 

The  IVesh  waters  of  tho  earth  conio  from  the  clouds ;  the  clouds 
come  by  evaporation  from  the  expanses  of  the  oceans.  Wo  ahall 
know  that  the  Sierra  Madro  divides  and  rules  tlic  invisible  fluids 
of  tlio  atmosphere,  equally  as  the  waters  which  wo  sco  descending 
down  tho  flanks. 

But  lot  mo  at  present  restrict  myself  to  the  Cordillera  as  it 
runs  athwart  our  own  country,  and  deflno  its  varied  features  as 
they  display  themselves  to  my  eye,  looking  out  as  I  now  am 
westward  to  tho    'acifio. 

It  is  where  t.^c  'juntain  mass  debouches  north  from  tho 
Isthmus  of  Tchuantcpcc,  that  it  bifurcates  into  the  two  primary 
Cordilleras,  which  continue  to  expand  from  one  another.  Tho 
Mother  Mountain,  on  the  cast,  gives  its  form  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  whoso  shore  it  pursues  nearly  to  the  Pass  of  Monterey 
and  Saltillo.  Ilcnec  to  the  Arctic  Sea  the  crest  preserves  a  very 
regular  line  to  the  north-north-west.  At  the  point  of  entrance 
into  our  present  territory,  it  is  gorged  by  the  caiion  of  the  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte.  This  caiion  is  a  gorge  cut  obliquely  through 
and  through  the  bowels  of  tuo  Cordillera,  where  the  river,  bur- 
rowing a  chasm  125  miles  in  length,  accomplishes  at  once  its 
exit  into  the  maritime  region  and  its  descent  from  the  "  Plateau 


n 


'I 


fcl:( 


60 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


of  the  Tabic  Lands."  This  gorge,  impracticable  for  commoa 
uses,  is  the  ouly  water  current  by  which  the  Sierra  Madre  is 
perforated  anywhere  between  the  extremities  of  the  continent. 
I  have  elsewhere  spoken  of  this  caiiou,  together  with  that  of  the 
Colorado  and  that  of  the  Columbia,  as  the  three  remarkable  water- 
gaps  whereby  the  plateau  discharges  its  surplus  waters  to  the  seas. 
The  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre  enters  our  territory  in  lati- 
tude 29°,  longitude  103°,  and  passes  beyond  the  49th°,  in  longi- 
tude 114°.  Its  length,  then,  witlia  these  limits,  exceeds  IGOO 
miles.  It  maintains  an  average  distance  from  the  Mississippi  river 
exceeding  1000  miles,  and  has  the  same  distance  from  the  beach 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  it  forms,  therefore,  a  continuous  summit 
crest  parallel  to  and  midway  between  them.  All  the  varieties  of 
formation  which  distingnish  the  mountain  chains  of  the  continents 
here  follow  one  another,  or  are  blended  in  groups,  and  exist  on  a 
Titanic  scale  o-f  magnitude.  Mesas  exist,  being  mountains  of 
immense  base,  and  perpendicular  walls,  whose  summits  have  the 
level  surface  and  smoothness  of  a  table ;  Butes,  which  are  conical 
P'jaks  wrought  into  perfect  symmetry  of  contour  by  the  corroding 
power  of  the  atmosphere ;  Slanos,  being  mesas  of  inferior  eleva- 
tion prolor  ^ed  outward  as  promontories  protruding  from  the 
mountain  flanks,  and  separating  from  one  another  the  descending 
rives ;  Caiions,  chasms  walled  in  on  either  side  with  mural  prR  • 
cipicos  of  mountain  altitude  fl^ayou,  or  parks,  valleys  scooped  out 
of  the  m;iiu  u.^rsal  mass  of  the  Cordillera,  within  which  they  are 
encased,  each  as  ao  '•mphitheatrc.  This  mountain  crest,  ex- 
hibiting all  these  varieties  ot  ^-rofile,  has,  when  seen  against  the 
horizon,  the  resemblance  of  a  saw  or  cock's-comb,  whence  the 
sobriquet  Sierra ;  the  continuous  mass  on  which  they  rest 
resembles  a  chain  of  links,  or  cord  with  knots,  whc  o  the  name 
Cordillera.  Thus  is  seen  the  expressive  definition  wherein  the 
first  Europeans,  the  Spanin'-ds,  our  predecessors,  have  compressed 


THE   CORDILLERA   OF  THE   SIERRA   MADUE. 


61 


1 


this  supreme  mountain  feature  of  our  continent,  Cordillera  de  la 
Sierra  Madre ! 

To  bring  the  mind  to  an  easy  and  familiar  understanding  of 
this  subject,  embracing  so  many  details,  it  is  necessary  to  ascend 
to  the  summit  crest  at  the  forty-ninth  degree,  to  follow  ita 
sinuous  edge  to  the  south,  to  skim  from  point  to  point  of  the  ser- 
rated profile,  and,  from  this  elevation,  to  extend  the  vision  out- 
ward on  either  flank  to  where  it  subsides  into  the  general  fouudu- 
tiou  of  the  continent.  From  such  a  position  the  eye  continually 
overlooks  the  "Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands"  on  the  west,  the 
"  Basin  of  the  Mississippi"  on  the  east.  The  average  elevation 
of  the  crest  is  12,000  feet  above  the  sea,  that  of  the  broad  pedi- 
meni,  from  whose  longitudinal  axis  it  rises,  6000  feet ;  the  breadth 
across  is  300  miles;  so  stupendous  in  area,  bulk,  and  solidity,  is 
the  mass  of  the  Sierra  Madre  !  Every  one  has  built  card  houses 
in  childhood,  having  a  second  story  over  the  centre;  such  a 
structure  illustrates  a  cross  section  of  the  Sierra  Madre  in  its 
primeval  form.  This  regularity  of  form  has  disappeared  under 
the  corroding  influences  of  the  atmosphere,  operating  during 
countless  ages,  and  the  abrading  powers  of  a  thousand  rivers, 
carrying  down  their  attritions  to  the  sea ;  what  is  left  presents 
an  immense  labyrinth  of  mountain  summits,  undermined  and 
channelled  to  a  profound  depth  by  the  yawning  gorges  of  the 
streams. 

Advancing  then  along  the  Mother  crest  in  the  direction  indi- 
cated, the  whole  eastern  flank  of  the  43d°  of  latitude,  and  lOOth" 
of  longitude  (the  South  Pass),  is  striped  with  the  rivers  which 
converge  to  form  the  Missouri  proper  and  the  Yellowstone. 
These  are  the  Milk  river,  the  Missouri,  the  Wisdom,  Jefferson, 
Madison,  and  Gallatin  forks,  all  converging  into  the  Missouri  j 
the  Yellowstone  proper,  the  Wind,  Pokeagie,  and  Powder  rivers, 


11 


1  n  1^1  wv|i|ii.i|^^.B>f«miin«wqiwniuii  mu  p^^ipipt . 


^ 


62 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


all  converging  into  the  Yellowstone.  These  rivers,  each  having 
its  complement  of  affluents,  are  all  of  great  length,  and  pour 
down  an  immense  volume  of  waters.  A  very  small  proportion 
reaches  the  sea,  for  where  they  debouch  from  the  mountains  at 
the  lowest  altitude,  these  waters  are  consumed  by  evaporation, 
rising  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  arid  atmosphere  and  surface  of 
the  great  prairie  ocean.  But  down  the  western  flank,  within  the 
same  limits,  descend  rivers  of  equal  number  and  magnitude, 
going  to  traverse  the  elevated  "Basin  of  the  Columbia;"  these 
are  the  Columbia  proper,  the  Cottonais,  the  Flatbow,  Peud-oreilles, 
Spokaw,  Salmon,  and  Snake  rivers.  These  rivers  have  a  more 
immediate  descent  to  the  sea  than  those  upon  the  east;  the 
mountain  spurs  between  them  are,  therefore,  more  numerous, 
abrupt,  and  of  greater  altitude.  It  is  easily  discernible  that  over 
this  serrated  crest,  whence  so  many  rivers  radiate  as  from  a  single 
knife  edge,  there  are  many  depressions  or  passes,  having  every 
variety  of  altitude  and  accessibility.  The  gorges  which  lead  out- 
ward from  these  passes,  all  eventually  converge  to  the  Missouri 
and  to  the  Columbia. 

The  more  southern  portion  of  this  mountain  crest,  where  it 
divides  the  waters  of  the  Yellowstone  and  Snake  rivers,  and  is 
seen  from  the  great  road  of  the  South  Pass  travelled  by  our 
people,  has  the  local  name  of  "  Wind  River  Mountain."  The 
mountain  crest,  curving  to  the  east,  and  describiug  a  semicircle, 
envelops  the  whole  basin  of  the  Yellowstone  as  in  a  cul-de-sac, 
and  subsiding  gradually,  in  altitude,  disappears  upon  the  bank 
of  the  Missouri,  It  is  by  this  peculiar  configuration  that  the 
mountain  crest  here  practically  disappears,  and  leaves  the  open 
depression  of  the  South  Pass,  into  which  we  gain  access  by  the 
Sweetwater  on  the  east,  and  by  Snake  river  on  the  west,  passing, 
by  this  means,  completely  around  the  arc  described  by  the  Wind 
River  Mountain  crest. 


THE   CORDILLERA   OF   THE    SIERRA   MADRE. 


G3 


A  similar  configuration  to  this  exists,  on  a  small  scale,  in  the 
Alps  dividing  France  from  Italy,  which  may  be  mentioned  here 
on  account  of  the  aptness  of  the  illustration  and  the  familiarity 
with  which  history  has  for  twenty  centuries  invested  it.  It  is 
where  the  Alpine  crest,  under  the  successive  names  of  Savoy. 
Alps,  Mount  St.  Cenis,  and  Maritime  Alps,  sweeps  round  in  a 
regular  arc  from  Geneva  to  Genoa,  and  thence  subsiding  into  the 
Apennines,  bisects  Italy  lengthwise  to  the  sea.  Within  this  arc 
is  embraced  the  basin  of  the  Po,  called  once  Liguria,  but  now 
Piedmont.  Around  this  arc  marched  the  armies  of  Brcnnus  and 
Hannibal ;  those  of  the  Romans  passing  into  Gaul  by  the  plain 
of  the  Rhone  j  and  here  also  still  pass  the  armies  and  people  of 
France  and  the  modern  Europeans. 

Upon  Snake  river  is  developed  the  most  northern  of  the  parks. 
As  this  river  descends  from  the  Sierra  Madrc,  it  debouches  into 
and  bisects  an  immense  plain  of  the  most  novel  and  remarkable 
features.  This  is  the  Lava  Plain.  It  is  an  elliptical  bowl,  em- 
braced between  the  Salmon  river  and  Snake  river  jMountains, 
325  miles  in  length  and  95  in  breadth.  It  is  a  uniform  pcdrigal 
or  flat  surface  of  vitrified  basalt,  melted  by  volcanic  fires,  and 
congealed  as  into  a  lake  of  c^st  iron.  Along  its  longitudinal  axis 
stand  isolated  peaks,  known  as  the  "  Three  Butos,"  which  erect 
themselves  to  the  snow  line,  like  volcanic  cones  protruding  above 
the  sea.  Cracks  of  profound  depth  traverse  this  plain,  whose 
blasted  surface  is  without  vegetation  or  water.  It  is  traversed 
beneath  by  subterranean  streams,  which  issue  from  natural  tun- 
nels in  the  wall  of  Snake  river,  plunging  into  its  bod  by  magnifi- 
cent cascades.  Bald  nakedness,  rather  than  sterility,  is  the 
extreme  characteristic  of  this  wonderful  plain,  which  has  around 
its  rim  a  fringe  of  little  "  vases"  upon  the  streams  bubbling  from 
the  mountain  base,  of  exquisite  fertility  and  of  the  most  perfect 
romantic  beauty.  When  we  call  to  memory  the  interest  attracted 
6 


^^i   I 


*f 


I  41 


11  !) 


64 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGIOX. 


in  every  age  to  the  diminutive  formations  of  crystalline  basalt  upon 
the  north  of  Ireland,  near  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  in  Southern 
Italy,  we  are  struck  with  awe  at  the  repetition  here  of  these  same 
phenomena,  on  a  scale  of  stupendous  grandeur. 

Upon  the  alternate  flank  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  bowl  of  the 
Yellowstone  properly  classifies  itself  as  the  Sucond  in  order  of  the 
paves,  having  its  oval  form  streaked  longitudinally  with  many 
parallel  and  narrow  mountain  ridges  gorged  by  parallel  rivers. 
This  pare  is  very  fertile,  of  the  grandest  scenery,  and  a  delight- 
ful climate. 

Such  is  a  partial  sketch  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre, 
from  the  49th°  to  the  43th°  of  latitude.  A  few  denominating 
features  only  are  pointed  out;  the  serrated  crests,  alternately 
rising  into  peaks  and  mesas  above  the  snows,  and  depressed  by 
passes;  the  flanks  gorged  by  descending  rivers  or  branching  out 
into  mountain  spurs  between  them  —  the  pares;  the  general 
direction  is  south-south-east.  I  omit  to  speak  of  the  regions 
around  the  higher  sources  of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia,  and 
still  onward  to  the  north,  not  because  they  are  less  interesting 
and  attractive,  but  because  I  have  not  myself  seen  them,  and  be- 
cause they  are  of  identical  features,  and  are  as  yet  remote  from 
the  column  of  progressing  empire. 

The  third  pare  is  the  plain  of  the  South  Pass.  Although 
adjacent  to  the  other  two,  it  is  in  perfect  contrast  to  them  in  all 
its  characteristic  features.  Its  surface  of  clay  has  the  perfect 
smoothness  of  a  water  plain,  over  which  the  eye  ranges  witbout 
interruption.  Rain  is  rare,  and  the  vegetation  of  grass  and 
astemisia  scanty  and  uniform.  Upon  its  south  front  rises  again 
the  Cordillera,  under  the  local  name  of  Table  Mountain.  This 
forms  an  immense  arc,  similar  to  the  Wind  River  Mountain,  but 
in  the  opposite  direction,  for,  turning  to  the  south-west,  it  sub- 
sides to  the  Rio  Verd,  which  is  the  great  Colorado.     These  two 


THE   CORDILLERA   OF   THE   SIERRA   MADRE. 


65 


arcs  approach  one  another  within  thirty  miles,  forming  a  double 
corner  over  the  gorge  through  which  the  Sweetwater  escapes. 
To  mark  the  continuity  of  the  mother  crest,  a  gentle  crown  tra- 
verses the  plain  from  one  mountain  corner  to  the  other,  only 
traceable  by  the  perfect  division  which  it  makes  between  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans. 

In  the  Table  Mountain  the  Cordillera  rises  again.  It  resumes 
its  direction,  configuration,  and  alHtude,  which  it  preserves  with 
uninterrupted  uniformity  clear  through  the  continent  to  Tchuan- 
tepec.  As  far  as  the  38th°  of  latitude  it  sheds  the  waters  of  the 
great  Colorado  from  its  western  flank  j  those  of  the  Platte  and 
Arkansas  rivers  from  its  eastern  flank. 

I  am  admonished  here  to  pause  and  fix  attention  on  the  num- 
ber, grandeur,  and  variety  of  the  physical  elements  combined 
around  this  culminating  point  of  the  mountains  and  the  rivers  of 
our  continent.  Nature  here,  more  perfectly  than  at  any  other 
point  upon  the  globe,  unites  into  one  grand  coup  d'oeil  all  her 
grandest  features,  which,  harmoniously  grouped,  present  to  the 
mind  a  combination  of  superlative  sublimity.  These  contrasted 
pares,  so  diSerent,  yet  so  close  together  !  the  intense  massiveness 
of  the  Cordillera !  the  number  and  proximity  of  great  rivers ! 
the  brilliancy  and  serenity  of  the  atmosphere  in  which  they 
shine  !  the  awful  storms  which  at  long  intervals  brew  among  and 
shatter  the  iced  mountain  tops !  the  graphic  conviction  ever  pre- 
sent to  the  mind  of  the  immediate  presence  and  presiding  omni- 
potence of  the  Creator !  The  impression  left  with  me,  and  made 
by  the  peculiar  grit  and  appearance  of  the  soil  which  overlays  the 
plain  of  the  South  Pass,  is  of  a  "  placer  of  kaoline,"  resembling 
the  biscuit  from  which  porcelain  is  burned.  This  is  disintegra- 
ted, and  washed  down  from  the  bald  mountain  flanks  of  porphy- 
ritic  granite.  Whether  there  may  be  also  here  concealed  immense 
placers  of  !r,o\d  and  precious  stones,  coming  from  the  same  source, 


^  1 


ti 


66 


THE   CENTHAL   GOLD   REGION. 


ia  not  yet  tested ;  but  such  ought  to  bo  the  fact,  from  the  pure 
auriferous  material  of  the  mountains. 

To  resume  again  the  pursuit  of  the  mountain  crest.  This  con- 
tinues to  recover  its  altitude.  Soon  upon  the  eastern  flank  the 
Northern  Pare,  or  Bull-pen,  reveals  itself;  along  whoso  centre 
meanders  the  great  Platte  river,  here  running  to  the  north  in  a 
direction  contrary  to  the  mountain  crest.  This  is  the  fourth  in 
number  of  the  pares,  but  has  been  the  first  and  best  known  in 
popular  reputation.  Being  very  large,  very  central,  and  easily 
accessible  to  us  going  out  from  the  lower  Missouri,  it  became 
the  first  favorite  winter  home  of  the  early  trappers  and  explorers. 
It  is  an  amphitheatre  of  large  area,  whose  mountain  sides, 
covered  with  soil,  vegetation,  and  scattered  forests  of  evergreens, 
slope  gradually  up  on  every  side.  Its  level  plain  is  laced  with 
streams  and  checkered  with  meadows,  sparkling  with  flowers  and 
romantic  groves,  in  perfectly  graceful  alternations ;  its  atmosphere 
is  genial  and  exhilarating,  and  the  temperature  mild  throughout 
the  year. 

Immediately  beyond  the  highest  extremity  of  the  fourth,  but 
upon  the  west  or  alternate  flank  of  the  mountain  crest,  the  eye 
drops  into  the  bowl  of  the  fifth  or  IMiddle  Pare,  expanding  to 
contain  the  confluent  streams  which  form  the  grand  river  of  the 
Colorado.  This  pare  is  larger  in  area  than  the  fourth,  but  is 
vexed  with  far-protruding  mountain  spurs,  narrow  streams  rat- 
tling over  rocky  beds,  and  a  cloudy  atmosphere,  made  fitful  by 
the  altitude  and  close  proximity  of  snow-clad  mountain  backs. 
This  pare  has  its  mouth  towards  the  Pacific.  Towering  up  from 
the  mountain  crest,  where  it  divides  these  two  pares,  rises  the 
snowy  head  of  Long's  Peak,  whose  eastern  front  beetles  over  the 
Great  Plains,  from  which  it  is  seen  for  fifty  leagues  by  those  who 
travel  up  the  Basin  of  the  Kansas. 

Still   immediately  follows  on  the  eastern  flanks  the  Bayoti 


THE   CORDILLEUA    OF   THE   SIKRUA   MADRE. 


67 


Salado,  or  Southern  Pare,  wbiuh  is  the  sixth.  This  is  the 
luouutaiu's  bowl,  scooped  out  for  itself  by  the  Southern  Platte,  as 
it  descends  from  the  snowy  cap  of  Pike's  Peak.  This  pare  has 
the  sanjo  general  characteristics  as  the  fourth,  but  is  greatly 
inferior  to  it  in  size,  fertility,  and  climate,  being  closely  hedged 
in  by  great  mountains,  from  whose  snows  descend  incessant 
storms,  and  a  febrile  dampness  infesting  the  atmosphere.  From 
the  same  glacier  which  surmounts  Pike's  Peak  descends  the 
Arkansas  river  upon  the  reverse  slope.  The  river  has  no  pare  j 
it  defiles  into  the  plains  through  a  caiion. 

Here  is  discernible  in  the  mountain  crest  the  same  curvilinear 
sweep  as  in  the  "Wind  river  mass.  Hero  occurs  a  similar  con- 
centric knot  of  mountain  crests,  rivers,  and  pares.  But  here  the 
mountain  crests,  having  curved  outward  to  accomplish  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  Platte  and  Arkansas,  condenses  into  the  snowy  pro- 
montory of  Pike's  Peak,  and  terminates  in  an  abrupt  precipice  to 
the  Great  Plains. 

At  both  of  these  remarkable  focal  points,  nature  seems  to  have 
instituted  a  primeval  conflict  between  the  abrading  power  of  the 
rivers  and  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  porphyritic  durability 
of  the  mountain  barrier.  At  the  northern  focus,  the  triumph  of 
the  rivers  presents  a  complete  harmony  of  the  passes,  which  enter 
at  all  points  upon  the  plain  of  the  South  Pass,  and  connect 
across  it.  At  the  southern  focus,  the  unscathed  impenetrability 
of  the  mountain  porphyry  presents  on  every  front  its  mural  pre- 
cipice of  undiminished  altitude ;  here,  then,  the  austere  rigidity 
of  the  mountain  mass  triumphs  and  admits  no  transit  through. 

To  complete  the  perfect  counterpart  resemblance  between  these 
foci,  opens  from  the  western  flank  of  the  mother  crest,  the  Bayou 
St.  Louis,  which  is  the  seventh  Pare.  This  is,  in  physical  for- 
mation and  in  every  detail,  the  exact  twin-counterpart  of  the 
pare  of  the  '<  Plain  of  the  South  Pass."     The  Sierra  Mimbres 


u, 


If' 


a* 


£ 


t  !l 


*'  w 


68 


THE  CENTRAL  OOtD  REOION, 


bounds  its  western  edge,  along  whoso  base  flows  the  Rio  Bravo 
del  Norto.  Triangular  in  shape,  level  as  the  sea,  equal  to  the 
third  pare  in  area,  encompassed  by  the  sublimest  scenery, 
abundantly  irrigated  by  streams,  G500  feet  ia  altitude,  it  has  au 
alluvial  soil  of  luxuriant  fertility,  and  seasons  eminently  propitious 
to  agriculture.  It  is  in  this  delicious  "  Bay  of  the  Sierras"  that 
the  current  flow  of  time  will  find  renewed,  identified,  and  dove- 
loped,  all  the  charms  with  which  Oriental  narrative  and  song 
have  invested  the  lovely  Valley  of  Kashmere  ! 

The  Spanish  Peaks  surmount  the  mountain  crest  under  the 
38th°  of  latitude.  From  hence  to  the  29th°  it  sheds  the  waters 
of  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte  from  its  western  flank ;  from  the 
eastern  flank  descend  the  Arkansas  and  the  Red  river,  flowing  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  rivers  of  Texas,  flowing  directly  to  the 
Gulf.  The  whole  front  is  masked  towards  the  cast  with  a  screen 
of  secondary  mesas  (tables)  termed  distinctively  slaiios.  These 
are  immense  triangular  terraces,  of  half  the  altitude  of  the  Sierra, 
resting  against  its  flank,  protruding  outward  many  hundred 
miles,  gradually  dwarfing  in  breadth  until  they  terminate  in  an 
acute  angle.  They  have  an  uninterrupted  level  surface  of  calca- 
reous soil,  a  scanty  herbage,  and  rainless  atmosphere,  an  imper- 
ceptible dip  towards  their  terminations,  where  they  present  an 
abrupt  wall  of  many  thousand  feet  in  altitude,  suspended  above 
the  Great  Plains.  All  along  these  mural  flanks  come  out  innu- 
merable streams,  which  go  to  form  the  Arkansas,  the  Red  river, 
and  all  the  rivers  which  traverse  Texas.  Thus  is  explained  the 
confusion  which  perplexes  the  public  mind,  struggling  to  arrange 
the  physical  configuration  of  this  immense  region,  as  yet  only 
partially  explored.  To  the  Mexican  people  who  inhabit  the 
higher  mountain  region,  this  is  known  as  the  lower  plain ;  by  the 
people  of  the  maritime  region,  who  see  from  below  its  ragged 


THE   CORDILLERA   OF   THE   SIERRA   MADUE. 


09 


front,  it  is  designated  as  the  Guaduloupo  IMountains,  and  by  other 
names. 

But  this  system  of  slanos,  seen  most  distinctly  in  Texas  as  the 
Slano  Estacado  and  the  Slano  of  the  Balsifoeta,  has  an  extent 
and  magnitude  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  all  the  other  dis- 
tinctive formations.  It  is  the  continuous  screen  or  Piedmont 
which  graduates  the  immense  declination  in  altitude,  from  the 
summit  crest  of  the  Cordillera  to  the  smooth  expanse  of  the 
Great  Plains,  appearing  from  above  as  a  depressed  mesa;  from 
below  as  a  series  of  ragged  mountain  chains.  Geologically  it  is, 
as  it  were,  a  continental  terrace  or  steppe,  or  bench  of  the  sul- 
phate of  lime  (plaster  of  Paris),  elevated  above  the  Great  Plains, 
which  are  carbonate  of  lime ;  depressed  below  the  Cordillera, 
which  is  porphyritic  of  granite. 

I  may,  with  propriety,  pause  here  to  speak  of  the  Basin  of  the 
Kansas,  both  on  account  of  the  fitness  of  the  opportunity,  and 
because  this  delicious  country,  surrounding  the  very  navel  of  our 
continent,  and  embracing  its  geographical  centre,  has  from  that 
fact  a  perpetual  and  paramount  interest.  The  Kansas  river  has 
its  extreme  sources  beneath  the  roots  of  Pike's  Peak,  where  they 
have  ceased  to  interrupt  the  plains.  The  Platte  and  Arkansas 
envelop  it,  and  form  a  line  of  drainage  between  it  and  the  Cor- 
dillera. But  in  front  of  the  Kansas  Basin,  the  screen  of  the 
Piedmont  is  interrupted  and  disappears,  so  that  the  Great  Plains 
stretch  up  to  the  base  of  the  naked  Cordillera,  which  reveals  at 
one  sight  the  towering  masses  of  Pike's  and  Long's  Peaks,  and 
the  curtain  of  snowy  mountains  which  connects  them.  A  similar 
coup  d'ceil  is  seen,  as  presents  itself  to  an  Italian  standing  upon 
the  Po  above  Milan,  whose  eye  sweeps  the  Plain  of  Lombardy, 
and  ascends  to  the  snowy  summits  of  the  highest  Alps,  without 
any  intervening  objects  to  interrupt  the  vision.  A  similar 
resemblance  to  the  Alpine  formation  which  characterizes  the  par- 


's ■ 


,  f-'u  i 


70 


THE   CF.NXnAL   GOLD   REGION. 


:i 


tially-cxplorcd  masses  iranicdiately  to  the  west,  has  acquired  for 
them  the  local  name  of  "  Helvetian  Mouiitaiiis."  From  these 
two  peaks — Long's  Peak  to  the  north,  and  Pike's  Peak  to  the 
south — as  from  twin-radiating  points,  the  Piedmont  expands  from 
the  casteii-  flank  of  the  Cordillera,  like  a  half-open  fan.  Towards 
the  north  is  the  Mcdicin-Bow  Mountain  and  the  Laramie  Plain; 
towards  the  south,  the  Ratouc  Mountain,  the  Slano  Balsifoota, 
and  the  Slano  Estacado. 

Such  is  an  effort  to  delineate  and  classify  the  prominent  phy- 
sical features  of  the  Mother  Cordillera  of  our  country;  the  .serrated 
axis  which  forms  its  core ;  the  .system  of  parks ;  the  system  of 
rivers  and  mountain  spurs ;  the  peaks  and  mesas  ;  the  system  of 
slanos.  Its  material  mass  is  primeval  granite.  Volcanoes,  active 
or  extinct,  craters  and  their  igneous  discharges,  are  not  found. 
(These  exist  upon  the  plateau  and  iu  the  Andes  beyond.)  This 
Cordillera  is  auriferous  throughout.  It  c  tains  all  forms  of 
minerals,  metals,  stones,  salts,  and  earths ;  iu  short,  every  useful 
shape  in  which  matter  is  elsewhere  found  to  arrange  itself,  and 
in  all  the  geological  gradation.s. 

The  prominent  agricultural  feature  of  the  Cordillera  is  fertility 
—pastoral  fertility.  Stupendous  peaks  and  battlements  exist, 
extreme  in  bald  and  sterile  nakedness ;  plains  there  arc  blasted 
with  perpetual  aridity  and  congealed  by  perpetual  frosts.  The 
space  thus  occupied  is  small;  indigenous  grasses,  fruits,  and 
vegetables  abound ;  it  swarms  with  animal  life  and  aboriginal 
cattle;  food  of  grazing  and  carnivorous  animals,  fowls  and  fish, 
is  everywhere  found ;  the  forests  and  flora  are  superlative ;  the 
immense  dimensions  of  nature  render  accessibility  universal.  An 
atmosphere  of  intense  brilliancy  and  tonic  tone  overflows  and 
embalms  all  nature ;  health  and  longevity  are  the  lot  of  man. 

It  is  necessary  to  be  condensed  and  brief.  A  million  of 
interesting  facts  are  left  unmentioned.    Then  the  Cordillera  of 


■  T'll  ■ 


THE   PLATEAU    OF   NOaXll    AMERICA. 


71 


the  Sierra  Madro  is  hut  a  third  part  in  area  of  our  "  mountain 
formation."  If  the  intjuiring  .spirit  and  patriarchal  fire  of  JolTor- 
8on  and  of  Astor  still  hums  in  the  popular  heart,  the  contiijciital 
uii.ssion  of  1776  will  revive  and  reanimate  our  generation. 
Counterfeit  „cography,  promulgated  with  ofEcial  dogmati.sm,  will 
cea.so  to  bo  fashionable,  or  to  defeat  the  divine  instinct  of  the 
people.  Patriotism,  pioneered  by  truth  and  genuine  science, 
will  reveal  and  comprehend  our  continental  geography  as  it  in, 
huge  iu  dimensions,  sublime  in  order  and  symmetry,  a  unity  in 
plan.  Our  political  and  social  empire,  expanded  to  the  same 
dimensions,  harmonized  to  the  same  che(iuercd  variety,  will 
assume  a  similar  order,  a  like  .symmetry,  and  crown  hope  with  a 
Bimilar  solid  and  enduring  perpetuity. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  PLATEAU  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


It  is  now  fifteen  years,  nearly  half  a  generation,  since  I  sub- 
mitted to  the  scrutiny  of  science  and  the  public  "  A  Hydro- 
graphic  Map  of  North  America,"  exhibiting  in  daguerr, Mcype 
the  cardinal  physical  arrangement  of  our  continent.  Upon  this, 
is  exactly  defined  the  Mountain  Formation,  enclosing  the 
Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands.  This  subdivision  of  our  country, 
amounting  to  one-third  of  the  whole  area,  comes  now  in  the 
bounding  march  of  empire,  to  have  a  necessary,  an  intense,  a 
pre-eminent  interest  to  our  people.  Undoubtedly  the  scheme  of 
Independence,  inaugurated  in  1776,  sustained  through  the  forti- 
tude of  the  Revolution,  and  consummated  in  the  Union  of  1787, 


'hi  [ 


72 


THE   CENTUAL   OOI.U    UEtJION, 


^•!li 


coMtcinpliitoJ  and  cuimuonccd  a  Coiitiiicntiil  lloiiublio  I  In  the 
ripening  of  tiwo,  wo  uro  now  calloJ  upon  to  receive  into  this  oon- 
tinentul  Union,  the  iudepcnilent  and  equal  Status  of  tlio  Plateau, 
and  to  construct  across  it  the  continental  railway. 

IIo'''  it  is  that  imuienso  facts,  dormant  since  creation,  and 
noticed  only  to  be  unanimously  rejected  by  human  society,  flash 
suddenly  out  of  midnight  obscurity,  and  by  a  single  step  plant 
themselves  upon  the  very  throne  itself  of  public  attuntion,  may 
be  thus  illustrated :  Columbus,  intent  upon  discovering  a  direct 
route  by  sea  to  Oriental  Asia,  died  without  any  thought  of  the 
now  continent,  or  knowledge  that  ho  had  seen  it.  Amerigo 
Vespucci,  a  younger  navigator,  identified  the  new  continent, 
established  its  existenco  in  the  popular  mind,  and  gave  to  it  his 
own  name,  America. 

Thus,  in  1842,  commenced  to  agitate  itself  throughout 
America,  the  energetic  geographical  movement,  to  reorganize  the 
'joluum  of  central  progress  artificially  stagnated  in  3Iissouri  since 
1320.  Exploration,  conquest,  the  conversion  of  the  wilderness, 
have  since  advanced  with  intense  celerity.  As  is  the  case  with 
all  normal  instincts,  war,  peace,  domestic  and  foreign  schemes  of 
opposition,  have  each  contributed  to  precipitate  its  advance  and 
fire  its  activity.  The  American  people  are  then,  now  advancing, 
victoriously  to  plant  democratic  empire  co-ccjual  with  the  area  of 
the  continent.  The  grand  novelty  which  rises  in  front,  is  the 
Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands.  This  Plateau,  enclosed  within  the 
Cordilleras  of  the  Mountain  Formation,  possesses  characteristics 
new  to  mankind,  and  about  to  arrest  the  attention  and  sway  the 
mental  energies  of  America. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  necessary,  by  reference  and  comparison, 
to  identify  this  plateau;  to  discover  what  and  where  it  is;  and 
thence  to  go  on  and  demonstrate  its  area,  its  climate,  its  capacity, 
and  its  geographical  power  in  the  world. 


Tin;    I'l.ATKAU    OF    NOtlTII    AMKHICA. 


73 


Asia  contains  two  plateaux  :  South  Amorica,  one :  Nurth 
America,  one.  Europe  and  Africa  have  great  uiountaiu  chaiiia, 
but  uo  phitcau. 

The  iiauionso  Plateau  of  Asia  occupies  the  ccntrnl  region  of 
that  continent,  extending  east  and  west  from  the  Pontic  Sea  to 
Middle  China.  It  is  enclosed  between  the  Uinulaya  Mountains 
and  those  of  Siberia,  embracing  the  upper  and  lower  jjlains  of 
Thibet  and  the  great  lakes,  the  Caspian  Soa,  the  fer:  of  Aral,  and 
the  Balkash  Sea,  with  the  rivers  that  flow  into  them.  Thi'j  great 
space  is  fenced  imperviously  from  the  oceans  by  a  circuit  of 
primeval  mountains :  it  oxicn-l"  cast  and  west  4S00  miles, 
between  the  latitudes  35°  and  50°.  Its  average  breadth,  north 
and  south,  is  1200  miles.  Such  is  the  immense  continental 
plateau  of  Asia,  of  which  our  knowledge  is  imperfect,  as  to  its 
population  and  the  grade  of  civilization  they  Oil.  "We  know  that 
from  primeval  time,  periodical  swarms  of  conquering  barbarians 
have  descended  down  its  flanks  and  deluged  all  the  continents  to 
the  seas,  convulsing  empires  and  displacing  all  organized  socie- 
ties. These  convulsions  have  extended  to  the  extremities  of 
China,  of  India,  of  Europe,  and  into  Africa.  Such  is  a  short 
and  significant  memorandum  of  this  plateau,  remarkable  for  the 
high  antiquity,  the  numbers,  and  the  uniforn.  barbarism  of  its 
populations.  It  is  entirely  north  of  the  Isothermal  temperate 
zone. 

The  Plateau  of  .?yria  occupies  the  space  between  the  Persian 
and  lied  seas :  the  Dead  Sea  is  within  it  and  the  peninsula  of 
Arabia  :  it  has  no  large  rivers,  but  is  flanked  by  the  Euphrates, 
the  Nile,  and  the  Mediterranean.  It  lies  across  the  Isothermal 
temperate  zone  from  edge  to  edge.  Here  is  the  original  birth- 
place and  cradle  of  human  history  and  inspired  civilization. 
Down  its  flanks  have  descended  all  the  ethereal  systems  of  the 
world,  which  enter  the  heart  of  men  and  inspire  true  religion, 


'Ut 


■i* 


•  n 


74 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   ItEQIOX. 


true  knowledge,  political  liberty,  and  which  erect,  enlarge,  and 
perpetuate  civilized  society.  Hence  have  gone  forth  to  the 
extremities  of  the  earth  and  to  the  human  race  throughout  all 
time,  the  genuine  oracles  of  God  revealing  religion  and  liberty, 
to  achieve  the  conquest  of  idolatry  and  barbarism,  and  displace 
them  from  the  human  heart. 

Beneath  ihc  equator,  upon  the  summit  of  the  Peruvian  moun- 
tains, is  the  Plateau  of  the  Andes.  TIcrt  was  the  delicate  empire 
and  system  of  the  Ineas,  which  withered  before  Pizarro  and  the 
Spaniards  as  a  vine  before  the  tropical  siroc.  It  contains  the 
Lake  of  Tidcacii,  and  is  vrithout  rivers.  Of  excessive  elevation 
and  aridity,  small  in  urea,  arduous  of  access,  and  approochah!  ? 
only  through  torrid  heais  which  surround  its  base  and  flanks, 
this  Platcju  is  entirely  without  the  belt  of  the  Isotherm-il  tem 
perato  zone. 

Such  are  the  three  other  Plateaux!  We  now  approu' h  **  .> 
fourth — our  own — the  Plateau  of  North  America. 

I  have  heretofore  written  of  this  Plateau :  I  speak  with  great 
diffidence;  but  of  all  the  departments  into  which  science  has 
arranged  the  physical  geography  of  the  globe,  this  appears  to  me 
the  most  interesting,  the  most  crowded  with  various  and  attractive 
features,  and  the  most  certainly  destined  eventually  to  contain 
the  most  powerful  and  c  ilightened  empire  of  the  world.  At  pre- 
sent it  is  no  r  ore  known  or  comprehended  as  it  is,  by  the  Amevi- 
can  people,  than  was  America  itself  by  the  poet  Iloiucr.  It  is 
to  them  as  muoh  a  myth  as  was  then  the  continent  of  Atalanta. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  of  such  great  area  as  to  contain  within  itself 
three  great  rivers  which  rank  with  the  Nile,  the  Ganges,  and  the 
Danube  in  length,  anJ  five  groat  ranges  of  primary  mountains. 

The  x\.ndes,  where  it  issues  from  the  Isthmus  of  Tchuantepec, 
divides  into  the  two  Cordilleras  of  the  north.  The  one  pursues 
the  shores  of  the  Mexican  Gulf;    the  other,  the  shores  of  the 


THE   PLATEAU   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


70 


'f 


Pacific  Ocean.  The  Cordilleras,  continuing  to  open  from  one 
another,  run  with  great  uniformity  of  bulk  and  altitude,  through 
to  the  Polar  Sea.  At  the  43d  degree  of  latitude  they  are  1400 
miles  asunder,  which  is  here  the  breodth  of  the  Plateau.  The 
eastern  Cordillera  is  the  Sierra  Madro  (the  Mother  Mountain); 
the  western  Cordillera  is  the  Sierra  Nevada  de  los  Andes  (the 
Snowy  Andes).  This  then,  the  whole  immense  area  encased 
within  the  Cordilleras  from  Tchuantepec  to  the  Polar  Sea,  is  the 
Plateau  of  North  America !  The  Cordill Tn  have  a  general 
altitude  of  12,000  feet ;  the  Plateau  of  GOOO.  The  Plateau  is 
4000  miles  in  length,  having  its  direction  from  south-east  to 
north-west ;  its  superficial  area  is  2,000,000  square  miles.  The 
portion  within  our  territories  is  one-third  of  the  whole  country. 

Such,  then,  is  the  geographical  position,  the  area,  and  the  alti- 
tude of  the  Plateau.  Its  longitudinal  position  is  remarkable, 
having  its  extremities  withiu  the  equatorial  and  the  polar  zones ; 
but  its  greatest  breadth  and  area  is  across  the  Isothermal  tem- 
perate zone.  Its  whole  western  front  is  closely  flanked  by  the 
Pacific  Ocean ;  its  eastern  front  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
Calcareous  Plain.  It  erects  itself  continuously  along  between 
these,  and  cither  connects  them  together  or  separates  them 
asunder. 

The  Plateau  has  a  general  confi;.xiration,  simple  as  a  unit  in 
the  physical  geography  of  the  earth ;  the  details  are  infinite  and 
complicated,  all  marked  by  a  grandeur  in  harmony  with  its  vast- 
ness.  In  the  elements  which  attract  and  perpetuate  the  social 
host  of  civilized  men,  nc  other  region  can  assert  or  hold  commu- 
nion with  it.  It  denominates  as  a  standard,  which  can  have  no 
equal.  It  is  subdivided  into  seven  great  basins,  which  succeed  one 
another  in  order  from  the  south  towards  the  north.  The  basin 
of  the  city  of  Mexico  is  the  first  md  most  known.  A  cei 
7 


i    ^^'^: 


r  i 


76 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


4 

If 


lake  collects  the  waters  of  the  basin,  Which  has  no  drainage  to 
the  sea.  The  second  basin  is  the  Bolson  de  Mapimi.  The 
Laguna  de  Mapimi  collects  its  waters,  and  is  also  unconnected 
with  the  sea.  These  basins  are  divided  asunder  by  the  Sierra  of 
Queretaro,  which  connects  the  Cordilleras  across.  The  third  is 
the  basin  of  the  llio  Bravo  del  Norte,  which  is  divided  from  the 
second  by  the  transverse  mountain  chain  of  the  E,io  Florida. 
This  immense  basin  is  drained  by  the  rivers  Del  Norte,  Pecos, 
and  Conchos,  which,  uniting  against  the  Sierra  Madre,  gorge  it 
by  a  caiiou  and  form  below  the  llio  Grande  of  the  Mexican  Gulf. 
The  fourth  is  the  basin  of  the  Colorado.  The  great  Sierra 
Minibres  divides  these  t'^o  basins  asunder  after  the  manner  of  a 
back-bone,  from  which  their  waters  descend  down  the  reverse 
slopes.  They  are  longitudinal,  parallel,  and  overlap  one  another. 
Distinguished  by  stupendous  volcanic  phenomena,  they  pre- 
eminently constitute  the  metalliferous  region  of  the  world.  Tbj 
confluent  rivers  of  this  basin,  where  they  unite  to  form  the 
Colorado,  gorge  the  Andes  by  the  wonderful  canon  of  that 
name,  and  debouch  into  the  California  Gulf.  The  fifth  is 
the  basin  of  the  Salt  Lake,  divided  from  the  last  by  the  great 
Sierra  Wasatch.  Within  the  vast  circuit  of  its  mountain 
rims,  are  contained  many  stagnant  lakes  receiving  rivers  of 
fresh  water.  This  basin  has  no  outlet  to  the  sea.  The  sixth 
is  the  basin  of  the  Columbia.  The  transverse  chain  of  the 
Snake  River  Mountains  parts  these  two  last  basins.  Here 
is  seen  a  most  wonderful  display  of  natural  phenomena.  The 
Snake  and  Columbia  rivers,  coming  from  opposite  di.'octions 
and  penetrating  immense  mountains,  unite  together,  gorge  the 
Andes  at  the  Cascades,  and  debouch  into  the  Nci'th  Pacific 
Ocean.  The  seventh  is  the  basin  of  Frazer  river.  The  Olym- 
pian chain  diviiles   it   from   the  Columbia.     From   hence   the 


THE   PLATEAU   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


77 


Plateau  continues  its  direction  through  a  region  as  yet  but  little 
known,  and  opens  out  upon  the  Polar  Sea. 

If  a  thread  be  drawn  longitudinally  through  the  Plateau,  equi- 
distant from  the  Cordilleras,  it  will  bisect  a  line  of  sedimentary 
lakes  resting  as  in  the  bottom  of  a  trough.  These  are  the  Lake 
of  Mexico,  the  Laguna,  Gusraan's  Lake,  the  Great  Salt  Lake, 
the  Pend'oreilles  and  Okanagan  lakes.  These  waters  have  an 
average  elevation  of  GOOO  feet  above  the  sea.  The  whole  bulk 
of  the  Plateau  has  then  the  altitude  of  a  primary  mountain. 

If  the  stupendous  features  of  nature  arc  allov.  ed  their  solemnity 
of  impression,  and  the  majestic  length  and  bulk  of  the  Cordilleras 
be  admitted,  wc  ma  7  now  understand  what  is  the  immense  sub- 
division  of  our  continent  encased  within  them.  We  may  receive 
and  handle  it  as  a  unit,  assign  to  it  a  name,  "  The  Plate  a,"  and 
identify  its  extent,  its  distinctive  profile  and  position. 

The  climate  of  the  Plateau  is  local  and  peculiar,  but  very 
uniform.  The  Cordilleras,  by  their  altitude  and  remoteness  from 
the  sea,  exclude  the  ocean  vapors  from  the  Plateau.  A  rainless 
atmosphere,  perpetually  dry,  tonic,  and  transparent,  is  the  normal 
condition  throughout  the  year.  Altitude  and  aridity  united, 
temper  the  heat  towar^'s  the  ccjuatorial  zone;  the  same  causes 
temper  the  cold  towards  the  polar  zone.  The  extremes  of  tem- 
perature for  the  day  and  for  the  night  are  great;  for  the  seasons 
of  the  year  scarcely  perceptible.  In  one  word,  the  temperature 
is  uniformly  vernal.  Thus  the  genial  and  propitious  climate  of 
the  isothermal  temperate  zone  extends  up  and  down  the  summit 
of  the  Plateau,  and  is  folt  to  both  estromities  ! 

The  soils  of  the  Plateau  are  of  the  highest  order  of  fertility, 
alike  upon  the  moiintains,  the  valleys,  and  the  mesas  or  extensive 
plains.  The  dry  and  serene  atmosphere  converts  the  grasses 
into  hay,  and,  preserving  them  without  decay,  perpetuates  the 
food  of  grazing  animals  around  the  year.     This  gives  to  pastoral 


■  '&■ 


■ 

i 


78 


THE  CKNTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


ngrlculture  an  infinite  capacity  for  production  and  superlative 
excellence.  Meat  food,  leather,  wool,  fowls,  fish,  and  dairy  food 
arc  of  spontaneous  production. 

The  soils,  accumulated  from  the  attrition  and  decay  of  lava 
and  of  carboniferous  and  sulphurous  limestones,  possess  an  exu- 
berant fertility.  Spots  of  arid  sands  are  few  and  insignificant  j 
such  as  exist  are  from  the  auriferous  granite,  and  contain  placers 
of  gold  !  These  soils,  then,  composed  of  the  essential  elements 
of  fertility  and  production,  and  warmed  by  an  unclouded  sun, 
need  only  irrigation  to  ferment  their  activity.  For  this,  nature 
has  provided  in  the  configuration  of  the  surface  and  the  infinite 
abundance  of  snowy  mountains,  of  streams  and  of  rivers  descend- 
ing from  their  glaciers  or  bursting  from  their  flanks.  The 
descent  from  the  longitudinal  crests  of  the  mountain  ran2;es  to 
the  lowest  levels,  is  everywhere  by  terraces  or  steppes  arranged 
against  the  mountain  flanks.  Across  these  are  channelled  the 
gorges  of  the  descending  waters,  coming  from  the  gradually 
melting  snows  above.  To  guide  these  waters  out  upon  these 
terraces  and  distribute  it  over  the  surface,  involves  neither  exces- 
sive labor  nor  intelligence.  It  is  understood  and  practised  by  the 
aboriginal  people.  The  laborious  systems  of  culture  to  provoke 
germination,  the  uncertain  yield  common  to  our  people  of  the 
maritime  region  of  timber  and  uncertain  seasons,  are  here  unknown 
and  unnecessary.  A  perpetual  sun  and  systematic  irrigation  (as 
in  Egypt)  dispense  with  laborious  manual  tillage ;  the  use  of  the 
plow  is  not  indispensable  :  the  waters  for  irrigation  descend  from 
a  higher  level  and  are  constant.  The  laborious  extermination 
of  the  primeval  forest;  fuel  and  refuge  from  the  inclement 
seasons  of  heat  and  cold ;  periodical  and  uncertain  inflictions  of 
drought  and  saturation;  dependence  upon  an  atmosphere  ever 
changing  and  for  ever  fickle  and  trer.  Jiic'"^'"; :  none  of  these 
vicissitudes  are  seen  or  known  upon  the  Plateau.  •  The  adobe 


THE    PLATEAU    OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 


79 


brick,  of  unbuniod  clay,  constmcts  fences  and  houses,  inhabited 
more  for  domestic  seclusion  and  convenience  than  from  necessity. 
Upon  the  high  mountain  flanks,  within  the  influence  of  constant 
snow,  exist  abundant  forests  with  the  rank  summer  grasses  and 
vegetation ;  the  proportion  of  these  is  ample  and  harmoniously 
distributed.  The  Plateau  presents  itself,  therefore,  prepared  and 
equipped  by  nature  in  all  departments  at  every  point,  and 
throughout  its  whole  length,  for  the  immediate  entrance  and 
occupation  of  organized  society,  and  the  densest  population.  Of 
this  we  have  an  absolute  illustration.  It  is  where,  upon  the  ter- 
races surrounding  the  Great  Salt  Luke,  six  or  seven  years  has 
deveioped  in  the  wilderness  a  powerful  people,  possessing  in 
practice  all  the  elements  of  mature  and  stable  society;  and, 
moreover,  in  the  ease  with  which  a  numerous  army  has  trans- 
ported and  sustained  itself,  without  disaster  or  calamity,  at  the 
same  remote  destination.  Accessibility  on  to  the  Plateau,  is 
wonderfully  facile  and  unobstructed  over  a  tranquil  ocean  on  the 
one  hand,  by  the  Great  Plains  on  the  other. 

Amidst  the  chequered  variety  which  distinguishes  the  surface 
of  the  Plateau,  the  most  systematic  order  is  discernible.  The 
transverse  mountain  chains  are  parallel  to  one  another.  They, 
as  well  as  the  great  rivers,  have  their  courses  due  north  and 
south,  and  are  longitudinal  in  direction.  The  only  exception  is 
Snake  river,  and  the  Snake  river  chain  of  mountains.  They 
exhibit  a  stupendous  display  of  volcanic  convulsions,  extending 
over  the  basin  of  the  Salt  Lake.  This  is  such  as  to  excite  the 
convi'^tion  that  in  primeval  times  the  Blue  Mountains  of  Oregon 
were  imperforated,  and  between  them  and  the  Sierra  "Wasatch 
flowed  a  great  river,  discharging  into  the  maritime  basin  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

If  this  were  so,  the  harmonious  configuration  of  the  Plateau, 
from  end  to  end,  would  be  undeviatiug. 


w 


80 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


The  groat  mountain  chains,  six  in  nnmler,  enumerated  as  the 
Sierra  of  Quoretaro,  of  the  Rio  Florida,  the  Sierra  3Iimbres,  the 
Sierra  Wasatch,  the  Snake  River  Mountains,  and  the  Olympian 
chain,  all  form  continuous  divides  across  from  one  Cordillera  to 
the  other.  They  arc  unperforutcd  by  any  running  waters,  and 
block  off  the  area  of  the  Plateau  into  the  seven  isolated  basins 
above  named.  Other  mountain  masses,  branching  from  these 
sierras,  protrude  far  out  into  the  basins,  arc  capped  with  snow, 
and  rival  them  in  bulk  aid  altiiude.  Such  are  the  Sierra  La 
Plata,  the  Humboldt  Mountains,  and  the  Rlue  jMountains  of 
Oregon.     Spurs  and  minor  mountain  chains  appear  everywhere. 

The  central  regions  of  the  basins  are  occupied  by  great  plains, 
surrounding  the  sedimentary  lakes,  or  forming  the  immense 
troughs  of  the  rivers ;  the  pares  arc  amphitheatres  secluded 
within  the  sierras,  around  the  sources  of  the  great  rivers.  The 
most  remarkable  are  the  Pare  of  San  Luis,  the  Middle  Pare,  the 
South  Pass,  and  the  Lava  Plain  of  Snake  river.  Elsewhere  the 
groat  rivers  assault  the  flanks  of  the  Sierras  and  gorge  them 
athwart,  traversing  them  by  profound  chasms,  and  foam  for 
hundreds  of  miles  between  perpendicular  walls  of  rock.  Such 
canons  are  seen  upon  the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  Colorado,  the  Snake 
river,  and  the  Columbia,  especially  where  they  gorge  the  Cor- 
dilleras to  reach  the  seas. 

Such  is  the  infinite  assemblage  of  mountains,  plains,  great 
rivers,  in  every  variety  and  magnitude,  that  unite  themselves  to 
form  the  immense  area  of  the  Plateau  op  America  !  The 
features  of  its  geology  are  equally  various,  vast,  and  wonderful  j 
both  mountains  and  plains  promiscuously  appear,  of  carboniferous 
and  sulphurous  limestones,  lava,  porphyritic  gruuite,  <.'ulumnar 
basalt,  obsidian,  sand-stone,  accomp.^uied  by  their  appropriate 
contents  of  precious  and  base  metals,  precious  stones,  ooal,  mar- 
bles, earth,  thermal  and  medicinal  streams  and  fountains;  and 


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THE   PLATEAU   OF    NORTH   AMEUICA, 


81 


all  of  these  adorned  by  scenery  for  ever  varying,  fascinating,  and 
Bubiiuio. 

For  agriculture,  both  pastoral  and  arable,  no  region  of  the 
world  is  more  propitious,  not  even  the  IJasin  of  the  Mississippi, 
which  is  by  its  side.  One  remarkable  characteristic  pervades  all 
the  rivers ;  their  waters  arc  supplied  (as  are  those  of  the  Nile) 
from  the  high  mountains,  whence  they  descend.  Such  rivulets 
as  abound  in  maritime  countries  are  not  known,  but  subterranean 
streams  burst  forth  and  again  disappear.  This  systematic  feature 
at  once  demonstrates  the  porous  naturo  of  the  soils  and  the  ferti- 
lizing character  of  the  waters. 

To  revert  again  to  the  characteristic  climate  of  the  Plateau. 
It  is  continental,  as  contrasted  with  the  'maritime  climates  of 
regions  open  to  the  influences  of  the  oceans  and  overflowed  by 
their  clouds  and  vapors.  The  Plateau  is  secluded  from  the  pre- 
sence of  these  clouds  and  vapors  by  the  uninterrupted  envelope 
of  the  Cordilleras,  surmounting  the  lino  of  perpetual  snow 
These  clouds  and  vapors  lodge  themselves  upon  the  summits  of 
the  Cordilleras,  and  of  such  of  the  Sierras  as  have  sufEcient 
altitude.  From  these  the  rivers  are  fed  and  descend  to  traverse 
the  lower  altitudes,  and  upon  their  summits  are  observable  the 
atmospheric  changes  of  maritime  countries.  But  out  upon  the 
Plateau  these  changes  do  not  reach.  Hero  the  constant  alterna- 
tions arising  from  rain-clouds  are  not  felt.  The  atmosphere  has 
a  perpetual  vernal  temperature,  unvarying,  rainless,  transparent, 
splendid,  and  serene. 

It  is  along  the  axis  of  the  isothermal  temperate  zone  of  the 
northern  hemisphere  that  revealed  civilization  makes  the  circuit 
of  the  globe.  Here,  the  continents  expand;  the  oceans  contract; 
this  zone  contains  the  zodiac  of  empires  :  along  its  axis,  at  dis- 
tances scarcely  varying  from  one  hundred  leagues,  appear  the 
great  cities  of  the  world,  from  Pekiu^  in  China,  to  St.  Louis,  in 


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82 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


America.  During  anti(fuity  this  zodiac  was  narrow;  it  never 
expanded  beyond  the  North  African  shore;  nor  beyond  the 
Pontic  Sea,  the  Danube,  and  the  Bhine.  Along  this  narrow  belt, 
civilization  planted  its  system  from  Oriental  Asia  to  the  western 
extremity  of  Europe,  with  a  more  or  less  perfect  development. 
Modern  times  have  recently  seen  it  widen  to  embrace  the  region 
of  the  Baltic  Sea. 

In  America,  it  starts  with  the  broad  front  from  Cuba  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay.  As  in  all  previous  time,  it  advances  along  a  line 
central  between  these  extremes,  in  the  densest  form  and  with  the 
greatest  celerity.  Here  are  the  chief  cities  of  intelligence  and 
power,  and  the  greatest  intensity  of  energy  and  of  progress.  In 
1820,  this  middle  column  of  the  centre  had  reached  the  western 
frontier  of  Missouri,  and  opened  trails  along  to  the  Pacific  Sea; 
the  flanks  were  then  behind  in  New  York,  Lower  Canada,  and  in 
Georgia.  In  the  overwhelming  revulsion  of  all  previous  political 
precedents,  which  pervaded  our  Federal  councils  from  181G  to 
1828,  central  progress  was  forcibly  interdicted.  Abruptly 
stopped  by  an  Jadian  barrier  and  Draconic  code,  and  forced  to 
recoil  for  forty  years,  the  flanks  have  come  up  to  an  even  front 
upon  the  right  and  upon  the  left. 

Science  has  recently  very  perfectly  established,  by  observation, 
this  axis  of  the  isothermal  temperate  zone.  It  reveals  to  the 
world  this  shining  fact,  that  along  it  civilization  has  travelled,  as 
by  an  inevitable  instinct  of  nature,  since  creation's  dawn.  From 
this  line  has  radiated  intelligence  of  mind  to  the  north  and  to 
the  south,  and  towards  it  all  people  have  struggled  to  converge. 
Thus,  in  harmony  with  the  supreme  order  of  nature,  is  the  mind 
of  man  instinctively  adjusted  to  the  revolutions  of  the  sun  and 
tempered  by  his  heat. 

Behold,  then,  in  the  geographical  position  and  features  of  the 
Plateau  of  America,  a  crowning  mercy  and  a  miraculous  light 


THE  PLATEAU  OP  NORTH  AMERICA. 


83 


displayed  by  God  in  our  front,  to  illuminate  for  us  the  safe  line 
of  march  and  the  whole  area  of  expanding  empire  ! 

The  central  column  of  progress  has  already  ascended  on  to  the 
Plateau  by  the  entrance  of  the  South  Pass,  and  established  itself 
on  the  fertile  terraces  that  surround  the  East  Salt  Lake ;  it  is 
established  in  New  Mexico,  upon  the  Upper  Del  Norte ;  it  pre- 
pares to  enter  by  the  passes  of  Pike's  Peak  and  the  Arkansas  into 
the  delicious  pares  that  surround  the  gold  region  of  the  San 
J  uan ;  it  is  upon  the  Columbia  and  Frazer  rivers ;  it  has  also 
passed  over  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes,  and  it  presents  itself 
fronting  to  the  east  and  entering  from  California. 

Such  is  the  Plateau  of  America,  transcendent  in  position,  im- 
mense in  area,  superlative  in  climate,  fertility,  and  variety  of 
configuration.  Here  are  blended  all  the  elements  which  distin- 
guish the  other  plateaux  of  the  world.  Its  longitudinal  form ; 
the  rainless  character  and  perennial  brilliancy  of  atmosphere ;  its 
perpetual  vernal  temperature;  its  alternate  basins,  pares,  and 
snowy  sierras ;  its  great  rivers ;  its  indefinite  and  propitious 
capacity  to  produce  and  to  sustain  population  j  its  gold,  metals, 
and  gems ;  finally,  its  dominant  position,  beetling  over  the 
Asiatic  ocean  on  the  one  hand,  over  the  calcareous  plain  on  the 
other  hand,  continuously  from  the  Polar  Sea  to  the  equatorial 
bolt;  aU  these  arise  successively  and  together  to  announce  to  the 
American  people  their  accession  to  the  most  attractive,  the  most 
wonderful,  and  the  most  powerful  department  of  their  continent 
and  country. 

But  the  Plateau  has  the  prestige  of  antiquity  to  commend  it  to 
favor.  It  was  here  that  Cortes  and  the  conquerors  found  the 
gorgeous  empire  of  the  Montezumi  '■ !  a  polished  people,  highly 
cultivated,  numbering  many  milliors,  and  martyrs  to  their  heroic 
devotion  to  the  arts  of  peace !  The  same  marked  characteristics 
still  show  themselves  undiminished  in  the  existing  aboriginal 


1  I         ! 

.t 


!' 


Il     i 


84 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


people,  thinly  scattered  to  the  extreme  north  :  curious,  intelligent, 
and  credulous,  heroic  and  timid,  vibrating  quickly  from  super- 
stitious veneration  to  despair.  They  invite  and  receive  the  white 
man  as  a  new  divinity,  and  then  recoil,  to  shun  him  with  hate 
implacable  till  death. 

This  is  my  understanding  of  the  Plateau  of  America,  condensed 
to  a  general  but  a  compact  view.  At  my  first  entrance  upon  it 
in  1843,  my  impressions  were  far  otherwise.  Everywhere  ap- 
peared novel  phenomena;  nature  wore  an  impenetrable  com- 
plexity of  features  alternately  fantastic,  sublime,  bizarre,  and 
incomprehensible.  Time,  reiterated  exploration,  study,  and  me- 
litation,  have  revealed  it  to  me  as  it  is.  It  is  necessary  to 
ponder  long  before  we  may  penetrate  the  deep  designs  of  Provi- 
dence, or  be  permitted  to  comprehend  tiie  austere  and  perfect 
order  with  which  nature  is  everywhere  replete. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  SIERRA  SAN  JUAN. 


To  command  the  gold  and  silver  production  of  the  world,  and 
combine  this  with  an  intelligent  policy,  is  to  rule  the  world. 
The  present  ability  of  the  American  people  to  do  this,  will  become 
manifest  so  soon  as  the  geography  of  their  territory  shall  become 
correctly  understood  by  them,  and  its  economical  development 
made  a  systematic  policy.  A  few  standard  facts  in  physical 
geography  and  geology  being  currently  grafted  in  to  guide  the 
popular  mind,  the  ease  with  which  the  people  of  America  will 


/ 


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! 


THE   SIERRA   SAN   JUAN. 


85 


12 


rise  to  the  pinnacle  of  power  and  empire,  becomes  both  simp 
and  luminous  of  comprehension. 

I  have  in  a  former  chapter  defined  to  itself  the  "  Great 
Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands,"  and  enumerated  the  primary  moun- 
tain chains,  the  rivers,  and  the  elevated  basins  (seven  in  number) 
which  chequer  its  immense  area.  This  whole  area,  together  with 
the  great  flanking  Cordilleras,  is  of  the  primeval,  auriferous  for- 
mation. Although  immense  sand-stone  and  calcareous  formations 
are  frequent,  and  elsewhere  igneous  rocks  have  overflowe"d 
thousands  of  square  miles,  these  overlay  a  uniform  pediment  of 
porphyritic  granite,  as  uniformly  yielding  gold.  The  primeval, 
gold-bearing  formation,  therefore,  very  equally  divides  the  area 
of  the  continent,  half  and  half,  with  the  calcareous  formation, 
which  latter  abounds  with  the  base  metals.  Thus,  within  the 
present  territories  of  the  American  people,  the  precious  stones 
and  precious  metals,  platinum,  gold,  silver,  quicksilver,  exist  in 
the  as  yet  partially  developed  half,  with  the  same  abundance  and 
universality  of  distribution,  as  do  the  base  metals,  mineral  fuel, 
and  calcareous  rocks,  within  the  States. 

Investigation  within  "  the  great  calcareous  plain"  has  so  far 
progressed,  that  we  trace  along  its  diagonal  axis  a  metalliferous 
band,  traversing  continuously  from  the  neighborhood  of  Mier,  on 
the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  to  the  junction  of  Coppermine  river 
with  the  Arctic  Sea.  This  band,  resembling  a  sword-belt  sus- 
pended from  the  shoulder  and  knotted  upon  the  hip,  traverses 
Texas  in  a  direction  north-north-east,  crosses  Arkansas  and 
Southern  Missouri  diagonally,  Northern  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and 
Minnesota,  and,  brushing  the  extreme  shores  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  Hudson's  Bay,  sinks  into  the  Arctic  Sea,  near  the  Magnetic 
Pole.  Everywhere  within  this  band  the  calcareous  rocks  and 
soils  are  permeated  with  veins  and  native  masses  of  the  base 
metals,  existing  in  a  plenitude  and  purity  sufficient  to  supply  the 


•*!-':'1 


■'■[%] 


M 


> « 


m."o 


MAP  OF    THE   COLD   AND    SILVER    REGION 

or      IMKKS    I'KAK.SIKIMIAS  SAN     MAN     AM>     LAIM.ATA. 


Ill 


lOH 


III  > 


Sow«r.Barnes.  &  C° 


86 


rnK  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


i       I 


world  for  ever.  What  is  scon  and  known  upon  the  surface, 
indicates  a  systematic  order  throughout  in  the  relative  positions 
of  the  different  metals  and  their  accompanying  rocks  and  earths,  as 
also  in  the  localities  where  each  e.\i.4ts  in  excess,  and  may  bo  said 
to  culminate.  Thus  in  the  State  of  Missouri  iron  appears  pro- 
truding above  the  general  level,  over  an  immense  area,  attracting 
exclusive  attention  and  the  appellation  of  Iron  Mountains,  by 
reason  of  the  immense  formation  of  this  metal,  which  displays 
itself  for  many  hundred  square  miles  above  and  below  the  surface, 
in  mass  and  in  position.  Copper  may  likewise  be  said  to  culmi- 
nate, where  it  displays  itself  around  the  extreme  waters  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  in  mass  and  in  position.  Thus  likewise  of  lead, 
where  it  appears  in  indefinite  abundance  by  itself,  in  Wisconsin, 
Missouri,  and  Arkansas. 

The  existence  of  the  base  metals  of  native  purity  in  mass  and 
in  position,  on  an  immense  scale  and  within  the  calcareous  forma- 
tion of  the  basins  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  is  now 
become  established.  The  question  arises,  therefore,  whether 
there  exists  within  the  primeval  formation  any  parallel  phenome- 
non,  or  any  possibility  of  the  existence,  accessible  to  human 
research,  of  the  precious  stones,  of  gold,  silver,  and  the  kindred 
precious  metals,  in  mass  and  in  position. 

The  possibility,  and  even  more,  the  prohahillti/  of  such  a 
development  resulting  from  persevering  exploration  among  the 
Sierras  of  the  plateau  of  the  table  lands,  becomes  distinct  as  their 
geological  configuration  is  revealed. 

We  have  seen,  in  a  former  chapter,  that  the  Cordillera  of  the 
Sierra  Madre  presents  within  our  territory  two  remarkable  focal 
culminations — the  one  grouped  around  the  Wind  River  Moun- 
tain, the  other  surrounding  Pike's  Peak.  These  are  about  four 
hundred  miles  apart ;  they  are  connected  by  the  continuous  chain 
of  the  Cordillera  as  by  a  curtain.     Either  one,  contemplated  by 


THE   SIERRA   SAN    JUAN. 


87 


itself,  fills  the  siimc  sif^nificant  placo  upon  our  continent,  as  does 
the  Alpine  group  surrounded  by  the  kinjrdoins  of  Europe,  in  the 
topography  of  that  continent.  A  parallel  altitude,  grander  bulk, 
larj^er  rivers,  the  sublimest  scenery,  a  rainless  atmosphere,  and  a 
foundation  of  broader  and  more  solid  dimensions,  distinguish  our 
continent. 

To  all  who  ascend  the  great  plains  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
39th°  of  latitude,  the  snow-crested  mass  of  Pike's  Peak,  15,000 
feet  in  altitude,  and  seeu  at  a  distance  of  100  miles  from  its  base, 
is  a  pronjinent  object.  This  peak  beetles  over  the  plains,  pro- 
truding out  to  a  promontory  from  the  Cordillera,  with  which  it  is 
engrafted  by  an  elevated  ridge.  From  the  northern  flank  of  this 
ridge  descend  the  waters  of  the  South  Platte,  which,  first  form- 
ing the  Pare  of  the  Bayou  Salado,  flow  out  into  the  Plains  to  the 
north-east ;  from  the  southern  flank  descends  the  Arkansas, 
which  defiles  by  a  carton,  and  issues  forth  into  the  Plains  towards 
the  south-east.  The  Cordillera,  from  whose  eastern  flanks  both 
of  these  rivers  descend,  curving  towards  the  cast,  divides  asunder 
the  waters  of  the  two  great  rivers,  the  Arkansas  and  the  Rio 
Bravo  del  Norte.  From  the  western  flank  of  the  Cordillera, 
opposite  to  Pike's  Peak,  protrudes  similarly  an  immense  moun- 
tain promontory  toward  the  south ;  this  is  the  Sierra  San  Juan, 
the  local  name  given  to  the  northern  culmination  of  the  Sierra 
Mimbres. 

The  Sierra  Membres,  departing  from  the  Cordillera,  under  the 
39th  degree  of  latitude,  traverses  diagonally  athwart  the  Table 
Lands,  having  a  due  southern  course.  It  joins  the  Andes  in  the 
Mexican  State  of  Durango,  in  latitude  23°  80'.  Its  course 
coincides  with  the  109th  meridian.  It  is  1200  miles  in  length. 
It  is  a  continuous  mountain  mass,  dividing  the  Rio  Bravo  del 
Norte  from  the  great  Rio  Colorado.  The  immense  basins  of  these 
rivers  rest  against  it  as  a  backbone.  The  Sierra  Mimbres  is  a 
8 


ml'- 


!'v-, 


f;. 


i; 


11 


88 


THE   CENTIIAL   nOM)    HKflloN. 


(I 


niouiitiiin  clialti  of  tho  fir>tt  onlor  in  length,  iiKissivencss,  and 
altitude.  It  in  entirely  within  the  area  of  tho  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Ijftnds.  ■  It  aboiindrt  in  voleanic  phenomena  and  pedriL'als  of 
lava.  Its  on.«tern  flank  \n  Heorcd  by  caflunH  deseendinj^  to  tho 
Del  Norte;  its  western  flank  by  the  affluents  of  the  Cordillera. 
Tho  variety  and  grandeur  of  its  geological  features  and  mctallifo- 
rous  (jualitics  surpass  all  other  mountains.  It  produces  tho  pre- 
cious stones.  Withiii  the  States  of  Chihuahua  and  Durango  its 
flanks  are  mined  for  silver,  and  contain  twenty-one  known 
deposits  of  that  metal,  which  for  throe  centuries  have  supplied 
the  silver  and  silver  coin  to  the  world.  IJut  the  labors  of  tho 
Spaniards  have  not  penetrat'-d  beyo"  1  the  Gila  river.  It  is  tho 
portion  north  of  this  river  and  within  our  territories  which  is 
most  interesting. 

Throughout  tho  whole  system  of  the  Andes,  it  is  upon  the 
plateaux  and  high  mountain  flanks  that  mining  is  profitably  pur- 
sued. Such  is  tho  fact  in  Chili,  Peru,  Brazil,  and  Mexico.  It 
is  upon  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Land.s  within  our  territories  that 
tho  mctulllc  resources  chiefly  abound.  Of  the  wholo  system, 
then,  of  primeval  mountains,  occupying  tho  western  half  of  tho 
New  World  and  uniformly  auriferous,  it  is  where  the  mountain 
summit  spreads  out  to  embrace  the  prodigious  expanse  of  the 
three  contiguous  mountain  ba.sins  of  the  Del  Norte,  Colorado,  and 
Salt  Lake,  that  the  internal  vidcanio  powers  of  the  globe  exhibit 
their  efi'ects  upon  the  most  stupendous  scale.  From  this  pedi- 
ment, having  an  altitude  of  7000  feet,  rise  the  two  bisecting 
mountain-ohains  of  the  plateau,  the  Sierra  Mimbres  and  the 
Sierra  Wasatch,  by  which  it  is.  subdivided  into  these  three  speci- 
fied elevated  basins.  This  immense  expanse  of  continent,  pre- 
senting a  uniform  mass  of  the  elevated  auriferous  rocks,  places 
the  equally  grand  abundance  of  the  precious  metals  beyond  con- 
jecture and  above  doubt. 


■Hlm^ 


THE   SIERRA   SAN   JUAN. 


89 


But  the  Kit)  Colorado  haviiif;  gathered  into  its  ono  cliamicl  tho 
large  rivers  witliin  its  basin,  iiaiju;Iy,  tho  llio  Verde,  the  Uio 
Orando  of  tlio  West,  the  KagU-,  Dolores,  and  Sail  Ju»'»  rivers, 
launches  its  whole  force  aj^ainst  tlie  interior  flank  of  the  Northern 
Andes,  perforates  tliis  Cordillera  by  a  caiton,  tunnelled  diagonally 
for  450  miles  through  tho  very  roots  of  the  mountain  mass,  and 
reaches  tho  ocean  at  tho  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Cidifornia.  It  is 
this  solitary  fact  in  physical  geography,  new  to  human  research, 
and  of  transcendent  interest,  that  hero  arrests  and  fixes  tho 
attention  of  every  mind.  The  dorsal  mass  of  the  Andes,  thus 
perforated  through  from  base  to  bT»e  and  athwart  its  coursv?,  by  a 
river  of  the  first  magnitude,  is  fonii'  !,  to  its  snowy  summit,  of 
the  upheaved  auriferous  and  ij.  iclus  rocks  I  Nowhere  else 
throughout  the  globe  has  nftu^'o  waged  so  stern  a  conflict,  nor 
are  similar  phenomena  elsewhere  seen.  Upon  the  other  conti- 
nents, great  rivers  are  seen  descniding  from  the  flanks  of  prime- 
val mountains,  and  gorging  their  outflanking  spurs  j  here  only  is 
this  universal  law  of  nature  defied,  and  the  arcana  of  tho  inner 
world  revealed,  surrounded  by  details  of  the  austcrcst  bublimity. 

Such  is  one  of  the  stupendous  novelties  of  our  own  mountain 
formation,  which  arrests  tho  attention  and  summons  tho  enthu- 
siasm of  science  and  the  energetic  ambition  of  our  people. 
Nature  here  abounds  in  a  vast  variety  of  formations,  each  upon 
the  same  miraculous  scale,  and  all  sublime.  Volcanoes,  whose 
flames  and  eruptions  appear  to  have  ceased  but  yesterday ;  im- 
mense plains  of  selenite,  fringed  with  fantastic  mountains,  called 
cristoncs  (pendent  cockscombs)  ;  mesa.'?,  surmounted  by  prairie 
plains  of  wonderful  fertility;  vast  regions  of  forest  upon  the 
irrigated  mountain  flanks ;  crests  of  perennial  snows;  j^'^^'^^  of 
secluded  and  romantic  beauty,  having  a  perpetual  verdure,  and 
the  temperature  of  perpetual  spring ;  canons,  incaged  by  perpen- 
dicular mountain  walls  of  roseate  sandstone,  wrought  by  corrosion 


;N 


f    -' 


:r 


m 


» -If 'J 


'  i 


« 


1  ] 

I  ? 

:  i 

I   i  ■ 


90 


TIIK   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


into  every  form  of  sculpture ;  mountains  permeated  with  broad 
veins  of  gold  and  silver;  others  having  emeralds  and  the  ruby; 
quicksilver  is  known  to  gush  forth  and  deposit  its  globules  in  the 
rough  meadows,  called  "  sieiwekus."  Thermal  streams  of  all 
varieties  of  sanatory  waters  burst,  as  subterranean  rivers,  from 
beneath  the  overhanging  peaks  and  mesas;  mountains  of  por- 
phery  and  of  rocksalt  are  numerous;  vast  mountain  chains  of 
carboniferous  limestone,  changing  through  all  varieties  of  the 
richest  marbles ;  iron  is  found  in  mountain  masses ;  copper  is 
scarcely  less  abundant.  Petrifactions,  obsidian,  cornelians, 
agates,  and  chalcedony  pave  immense  regions.  Fuel  of  coal 
develops  itself  in  beds  of  unrivalled  extent,  depth,  and  compact- 
ness; caves  sparkling  with  transparent  frescoes  of  crystallized 
selenite.  An  abundant  flora  of  the  most  delicate  forms,  colors, 
and  fragrance ;  a  perennial  pasturage,  overrunning  the  mountain 
flanks  and  summits,  on  which  millions  of  aboriginal  cattle  subsist 
round  the  year,  as  fish  within  the  sea;  a  fat  fertility  in  the  soil, 
at  once  uniform  and  universal.  Rivers,  streams,  and  fountains, 
absolutely  infinite  in  number  and  of  miraculous  convenience  and 
distribution. 

Over  all  this  nether  world,  so  chequered  with  a  gorgeous 
variety  of  forms  and  productions,  both  upon  the  surface  and 
beneath,  floats  the  aerial  atmosphere,  shining  with  a  perpetual 
splendor  unknown  in  regions  of  less  altitude  and  less  remoteness 
from  the  sea.  Dry,  tonic,  and  exhilarating  to  the  taste,  infused 
with  the  direct  solar  warmth,  filterc^I  through  the  ether  that  sur- 
mounts the  atmospheric  vapors,  the  embalming  atmosphere  tints 
all  nature  with  a  silvery  splendor,  constantly  shining,  and  con- 
stantly serene.  The  nights  have  an  opposite,  penetrating  cool- 
ness when  the  solar  rays  are  withdrawn  and  his  direct  beams  are 
quenched ;  the  canopy  of  resplendent  stars  has  a  parallel  sub- 


« 


THE   SIERRA   SAN   JUAN. 


PI 


limity  with  the  dayj  the  transparency  of  the  atmosphere  and  its 
serenity  are  the  same. 

Electric  storms,  short  in  duration  and  at  long  intervals,  peri- 
odically renew  the  irrigating  snows  upon  the  mountains,  refresh 
the  air,  temper  its  dryness,  and  restore  the  rivers. 

Why  these  basins  and  sierras  of  the  Plateau  should  be  espe- 
cially metalliferous,  becomes  evident  by  reference  to  a  few  radical 
principles  of  geological  research.  If  quicksilver,  water,  oil,  and 
alcohol  be  poured  into  a  hollow  pillar  of  glass,  these  liquids  will 
subside,  according  to  their  specific  gravities,  into  layers  in  tho 
above  order ;  if  gold,  iron,  wood,  and  feathers  be  thrown  in,  they 
will  similarly  sink,  the  gold  to  the  bottom,  the  iron  to  the  quick- 
silver, the  wood  to  the  water,  the  feathers  to  the  oil.  If  this 
column  becomes  solid  by  congelation,  the  same  arrangement  will 
remain,  the  gold  being  sedimentary  to  all,  the  iron  beneath  the 
stratum  of  frozen  water,  the  wood  beneath  the  oil.  Everybody  is 
familiar  with  the  manufacture  of  shot;  each  globule  of  liquid  lead 
precipitated  through  the  air,  is  formed  by  gravity,  into  u  sphere. 
The  globe  of  the  earth,  8000  miles  in  diameter,  is  similarly 
formed,  the  congealing  substances  arranging  themselves,  as  the 
shells  of  an  onion,  from  the  centre  outward,  according  to  their 
several  specific  gravities.  I  have  often  boiled  rice  in  an  open 
camp-kettle,  when  traversing  the  mountains  and  my  daily  march 
was  done ;  the  rice  finally  subsides  in  mass  to  the  bottom,  but  the 
water  remains  of  a  milky  whiteness.  This  whiteness  is  caused 
by  minute,  buoyant  particles  of  rice,  of  altered  pnecific  gravity, 
suspended  throughout  the  water;  congelation  into  ice  fixes  in 
solid  form  both  the  mass  beneath  and  the  suspended  particles. 
This  homespun  illustration  makes  clear  the  cause  of  the  difi"usion 
of  grain-gold  throughout  the  auriferous  rocks.  To  be  found  in 
mass  and  in  position,  it  must  be  sought  sedimentary,  beneath 
these  rocks.  All  that  we  have  as  yet  found  is  granular,  in  scales 
8* 


1? 


i 


t 


92 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


or  minute  lumps,  set  free  from  the  upper  rocks  by  disintegration 
or  corrosion,  and  descending  the  mountain  flanks  with  the  sands 
abraded  by  the  torrents. 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  Cordilleras  and  the  Sierras  of  the 
Plateau  are  formed  of  the  auriferous  rocks  broken  from  their 
horizontal  beds  and  the  edges  rertically  upheaved  some  two  or 
three  miles  in  altitude ;  moreover,  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  is 
gorged  athwart  its  roots  by  the  caiion  of  the  Rio  Colorado.  Is  it 
not,  then,  possible — even  probable — that  sufficient  exploration 
may  here  reveal  to  the  miner  the  precious  metals  in  mass  and  in 
position  ? 

The  scientific  writers  of  our  country  adhere  with  unanimity  to 
the  dogmatic  location  somewhere  of  "  a  great  North  American 
desert."  Travellers  under  their  promptings,  especially  search  for 
it.  It  has  been  located  seriatim  in  advance  of  the  settlements, 
in  Kentucky,  in  the  North-west,  in  Missouri,  upon  the  Plains, 
in  California.  No  explorer  or  witness  who  has  failed  to  find  a 
desert,  is  allowed  credence  or  fame.  Yet  there  is  none,  either  in 
North  or  South  America ;  nor  is  the  existence  of  one  possible. 
On  the  contrary,  the  least  fertile  portion  of  our  continent  is  the 
silicious  maritime  slope  of  the  Atlantic  States,  whose  climate  is 
also  the  most  inhospitable.  Yet  here  is  no  desert,  and  none  any- 
where else  exists.  This  dogmatic  mirage  has  lately  receded  from 
the  basin  of  the  Salt  Lake ;  it  is  about  to  be  expelled  from  its 
last  resting-place,  the  basin  of  the  Colorado. 

The  anatomy  of  a  dwarf  or  an  infant  is  identical  with  the 
anatomy  of  a  giant.  The  details  and  relative  proportions  are  the 
same.  Habituated  to  a  common  medium  standard,  it  is  the  size 
which  is  marvellous  to  us.  Our  senses  are  bewildered  by  the 
novelty ;  our  judgments  wander — but  the  object  seen  is  a  reality. 
To  antiquity — even  to  the  modern  day  of  Columbus — the  At- 
lantic Ocean  was  a  mysterious  abyss,  an  impenetrable  Tartarus. 


THE   SIERRA   SAN  JUAN. 


93 


By  degrees  the  field  of  the  eye  expands,  the  mind  dilates,  fact  by 
fact  is  surmounted,  at  an  acclivity  is  made  easy  by  a  stairway. 
The  mirage  is  dissolved,  the  higher  standard  is  reached,  grows 
familiar,  is  approved,  and  is  firmly  embraced. 

It  is  to  European  minds  that  we  owe  the  aa  yet  elementary 
sciences  of  physical  geography  and  geology.  The  founders  of 
these  sciences  have  reared  them  by  hiving  the  slowly-developed 
details  of  nature,  collected  by  exhausting  patience  within  the 
small  basins  surrounding  the  cities  of  their  residences.  Thus, 
within  the  small  basins  of  the  Thames,  the  Seine,  the  Arno  j 
upon  the  flanks  of  the  Alps,  the  Apennines ;  in  Calabria,  and 
around  Fingal's  Cave,  have  heretofore  been  found  the  most  popu- 
lar illustrations  to  nurse  the  infancy  of  these  sciences.  More 
than  sixty  years  of  intense  meditation  has  inspired  the  cosmopoli- 
tan genius  of  Humboldt  to  scan  the  terrestrial  globe  with  an 
expanded  vision.  He  only  has  spoken  worthily  of  America  to 
her  own  people.  In  him  we  recognise  the  intrepid  pioneer  who 
invites  us  to  understand  the  gigantic  proportions  of  our  own 
great  country,  its  order,  its  symmetry,  and  its  grand  simplicity 
of  configuration.  As  Columbus  led  forth  navigation  and  com- 
merce, from  its  lengthened  tutelage  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  to 
expand  itself  over  all  the  oceans  and  to  every  continental  and 
every  island  shore ;  so  now,  this  venerable  pioneer  of  physical 
science  and  the  arts,  marshals  us  on  to  penetrate  the  arcana  of 
the  land,  to  fit  society  to  the  broad  foundation  of  the  continents, 
and  rear  a  comity  of  civilization  coequal  with  the  globe.  It  is  in 
Europe  that  Columbus  and  Humboldt  have  had  their  nativity 
and  their  residence.  It  is  for  America  that  they  have  lived ;  to 
us  they  belong ;  apostolic  citizens  of  our  destiny ! 

The  area  of  the  apartment  of  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Land, 
embracing  the  three  elevated  basins  of  the  Salt  Lake,  the  Colo- 
rado, and  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  is  equivalent  to  France, 


u 

k 


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;  ■'  *f  I 

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.       if: 


m 

■  ,  : ,; 

w 

vl 

n 

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■  'M 


li 


94 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


Austria-  Switzerland,  and  Cisalpine  Italy  combined;  its  rivers 
are  equal  to  the  Danube,  Rhine,  Rhone,  and  Po ;  its  metallife- 
rous mountains  are  pre-eminent  in  bulk,  number,  and  grandeur. 
In  readiness  to  receive  and  ability  to  sustain  in  perpetuity  a 
dense  population,  it  is  more  favored  than  Europe.  Fertility  of 
soil  of  the  highest  order,  is  the  dominant  and  uniform  character- 
istic of  this  immense  region.  The  mountains  are  rarely  abrupt 
or  rugged.  They  are  surmounted  by  mcsas^  descending  by 
gigantic  terraces  called  inesillas.  The  densely  crystalline  prime- 
val rocks  yield  but  slightly  to  atmospheric  corrosion  in  the  regu- 
larity of  a  continental  climate  and  seclusion  from  the  sea.  It  is 
the  decay  of  lava,  selenite,  and  carboniferous  limestone  that  forms 
the  soil.  The  pastoral  fertility  is  developed  by  nature,  which 
sustains  its  aboridnal  herds  as  fish  in  the  rivers  and  in  the  sea. 
The  arable  fertility  needs  the  care  of  man,  and  awaits  the  econo- 
mical development  of  artificial  irrigation.  For  the  reception  of 
this  system,  the  whole  structure  and  contour  of  the  surface  is 
fitted,  and  the  natural  waters  abundant. 

Reflection  wiU  recall  to  memory  the  magnificent  empires  of 
people,  possessing  a  highly-advanced,  but  imperfectly-organized, 
civilization,  found  established  along  the  summit  of  this  Plateau, 
conquered  by  Cortes,  Alvarado,  and  PizXrro.  On  the  summit 
of  the  Southern  Andes,  in  Chili,  Peru,  and  around  Quito,  on  the 
Northern  Andes  in  Central  America,  and  Mexico,  dwelt  twenty 
millions  of  population  in  the  aggregate.  Three  centuries  of  sub- 
jugation have  dwarfed  this  aboriginal  people  to  one-half  of  their 
original  numbers,  and  radically  altered  their  religion,  their  lan- 
guage, and  traditional  manners.  They  have  touched  the  lowest 
point  of  decadence,  from  wKich  they  will  again  slowly  ascend. 
This  people  had  no  fixed  science  in  physics,  religion,  or  politics, 
to  prop  and  protect  their  system  from  the  shocks  of  time ;  no 
navigation,  no  principle  of  perpetuity.     These  have  now  come  to 


THE   SIERIIA   SAN  JUAN. 


95 


them  with  the  European  column,  bringing  with  it  the  ark  of 
regeneration.  The  peculiar  agricultural  and  sonal  system  of  the 
Mexicans  under  the  Montezuraas,  extended  up  the  basin  of  the 
Rio  Bravo  del  Norte  to  the  base  of  the  Sierra  San  Juan.  Our 
people  are  marching  to  the  same  point  from  an  opposite  direction, 
bringing  with  them  the  social  habits  of  the  isothermal  zone  and 
a  maritime  climate. 

I  have  spoken  of  this  remarkable  focal  culmination  of  the 
Sierra  Madre,  from  which  two  snowy  promontories  protrude,  back 
to  back ;  Pike's  Peak  to  the  north-cast  beetles  over  and  subsides 
into  the  Plains ;  the  Sierra  San  Juan,  to  the  south,  beetles  over 
the  Plateau,  and  subsides  into  the  Sierra  Mimbrcs.  Kadiant 
mountains  and  streams  diverge  from  this  point  in  every  direction, 
and  form  abundant  passes,  direct  and.  practicable,  to  and  fro, 
between  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Plateau.  The 
three  remarkable  pares — the  Middle  Pare,  the  Bayou  Salado, 
and  the  Bayou  San  Luis — all  approach  close  together  the  divid- 
ing crest  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  over  whose  summit  they  imme- 
diately communicate. 

I  know  not  how  adequately  to  delineate  this  knotted  group  of 
all  the  colossal  elements  of  nature.  To  submit  the  uncmbellished 
facts  is  all  that  is  necessary,  were  this  possible,  where  the 
elements  in  compact  contiguity  are  so  many,  so  varied,  and  each 
of  such  colossal  grandeur.  To  exaggerate  is  far  from  my  inten- 
tion ;  to  enumerate  the  details  of  nature,  as  I  have  seen  them, 
with  austere  simplicity,  is  my  aim. 

Behold,  then,  to  the  right,  the  Mississippi  Basin ;  to  the  left, 
the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands ;  beneath,  the  family  of  Pares ; 
around,  the  radiating  backs  of  the  primeval  mountains;  the 
primary  rivers,  starting  to  the  seas;  a  uniform  elevation  of  8000 
feet ;  a  translucent  atmosphere,  a  thousand  miles  removed  from 
the  ocean  and  its  influences ;  a  chequered  landscape,  in  which  no 


11 


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96 


TUB   CENTRAL   GOLD   UEGION. 


element  of  sublimity  is  left  out;  fertility  and  food  upon  the 
surface ;  metals  beneath ;  uninterrupted  facility  of  transit ! 
Behold  the  sublime  panorama  which  crowns  the  middle  region 
of  our  Union,  fans  the  fire  of  patriotism,  and  beckons  on  the 
energetic  host  of  our  people.  The  American  people  number 
thirty  millions  in  strength.  Two  millions  change  annually  their 
place  of  residence.  The  oracular  instinct  of  conquest  burns  in 
every  heart  j  this  is  the  continental  mission  of  '70,  proclaimed 
from  the  traditions  of  Jamestown  and  of  Plymouth  Hock,  and 
thence  bequeathed  to  posterity  ! 

While  I  write,  the  news  arrives  that  thT  column  of  pioneers 
(engaged  during  three  years  in  planting  the  State  of  the  Kansas 
basin)  has  passed  over  the  rim  of  the  Calcareous  Plain,  and 
debouched  upon  the  base  of  the  primeval  mountains.  Gold  is 
found  at  the  first  trial  and  upon  the  threshold  at  Cherry  Creek, 
upon  the  eastern  flank  of  Pike's  Peak.  A  single  season  will 
suffice  for  them  to  ascend,  by  the  Arkansas  and  the  Bayou 
Salado,  to  the  mother  crest  of  the  Cordillera,  whence  the  basins 
and  sierras  of  the  Plateau  expand  beyond  : 


1    I! 


«'  The  clouds  above  us  to  the  white  Alps  tend, 
And  we  must  pierce  them  ;  and  survey  whate'er 
May  be  permitted :  as  our  steps  we  bend 
To  that  most  great  and  growing  region,  where 
The  earth  to  her  embrace  compels  the  powers  of  air." 

Let  us  here  pause  to  reflect  whether  the  traditional  history  of 
our  race  does  not,  on  its  very  front,  illustrate  what  prominence 
awaits  this  longitudinal  Plateau  of  our  continent,  descending 
thus  by  terraces  into  the  Mississippi  Basin  on  the  east,  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean  on  the  west!  The  existence  of  th-  empires  of 
Montezuma  and  the  Incas  exhibits  upon  these  Table  Lands  the 
ocly  examples  where  our  aboriginal  people  rose  above  an  absolute 


i 


THE   SIERRA   SAN  JUAN. 


97 


barbarism,  elsewhere  upon  the  lowlands  as  universal  and  as  level 
as  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

All  around  the  head  of  the  Mediterranean,  where  it  penetrates 
the  Asiatic  continent,  this  basin  is  encirplcJ  by  ?>  plateau,  or 
amphitheatre  of  elevated  plains  extending  round  from  Suez, 
continuously  through  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  into  Greece.  This 
descends  by  terraces  to  the  sea  shore.  Upon  this  Plateau  have 
been,  among  others,  the  cities  of  Babylon,  Palmyra,  and  Damas- 
cus ;  upon  the  slopes  to  the  sea,  Alexandria,  Tyre,  Jerusalem, 
Tarsus,  Byzantium,  and  Athens !  What  cardinal  element  have 
we,  in  the  immense  mental  system  of  our  civilization,  which  has 
not  come  to  us  and  with  us  from  thence?  Hence  (from  the 
Plateau  of  Syria)  have  resounded  through  all  time  and  into  every 
heart,  the  direct  oral  teachings  of  Jehovah  and  of  Jesus  :  hence 
have  issued  forth  the  miraculous  alphabet  and  the  numerals : 
hence  have  come  the  cereals  and  animals  of  our  agriculture,  wine, 
and  fruits  :  hence  our  religion,  law,  social  manners,  history, 
music,  poetry,  and  arts :  from  hence,  as  from  the  cradle  of 
nativity,  have  issued  forth  for  our  inheritance,  to  abide  with  us 
for  ever,  "  the  unconquerable  mind  and  freedom's  holy  flame  I" 

Everybody  is  acquainted  with  the  Gulf  Stream  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  This  colossal  stream,  recoiling  round  the  circular  sea  of 
the  tropics,  and  receiving  the  oozy  sediment  of  the  Amazon,  the 
Orinoco,  the  Magdalena,  and  the  Mississippi,  launches  out  into 
the  middle  ocean,  li '  silent  current  rolls  the  tepid  waters  and 
sandy  iUhris  of  two  continents  a  thousand  leagues  along  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ocean,  to  bank  them  up  upon  the  margin  of  the 
Northern  Sea,  to  form  the  submerged  continent  of  Newfoundland, 
and  the  telegraphic  plateau.  Similarly  has  flowed,  for  fifty 
centuries,  along  the  isothermal  axis,  the  human  current,  which 
bears  with  it  the  immortal  fire  of  civilization  revealed  to  man. 
This  central  current  has  reached  the  Plateau  of  America,  up 


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98 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


which  it  will  ascend  to  plant  the  sacred  fires  over  its  expanse, 
and  shine  upon  the  world  with  renewed  eflfulgence.  Such  is  the 
era,  the  arrival  of  which  is  announced  to  us  by  the  development 
of  the  gold  production  in  the  interior,  domestic  region  of  our  con- 
tinent. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


>  i' 


THE  SOUTH  PASS  OF  AMERICA. 

From  the  previous  chapters,  it  will  be  perceived  that  one  who 
travels  from  Paris  to  Pekin,  by  the  direct  route  of  New  York, 
Independence,  and  Astoria,  traverses  these  physical  divisions : 
1st.  The  Atlantic  Ocean.  2d.  The  Atlantic  Maritime  Slope. 
3d.  The  Alleghany  Mountains.  4th.  The  Basin  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. 5th.  The  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre.  6th.  The 
Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands.  7th.  The  Cordillera  of  the  Snowy 
Andes.  8th.  The  Pacific  Maritime  Slope.  9th.  The  Pacific 
Ocean. 

This  route  brings  into  immediate  juxtaposition  the  great  per- 
manent reservoirs  of  human  population  and  activity — Wcsfern 
Europe,  America,  and  Oriental  Asia.  If  it  be  practicable  to 
accommodate  all  the  international  transportation  of  the  tJiree  con- 
tinents by  this  route,  a  prodigious  condensation  of  economy  in 
the  interchanges  of  the  products  and  people  of  the  world  will  be 
accomplished  at  a  blow.  The  distance  of  transit  will  be  reduced 
from  the  circumference  of  the  globe  to  the  length  of  its  diameter 
— the  time  to  one-tenth.  Steam  by  sea  and  land  will  form  an 
uninterrupted  trip  by  two  ocean  ferries,  connected  by  a  transit 


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THE   SOUTH   PASS  OF   AMERICA. 


90 


railway.     Thus  will  be  solved  the  geographical  problem  which 
has  agitated  the  world  before  and  since  Columbus. 

Practical  experiment  has  exhausted  all  discussion  as  to  the 
passage  of  the  two  oceans  by  steamers,  and  of  the  American 
continent  by  railway,  so  far  as  the  Atlantic  Maritime  Slope,  the 
Alleghany,  the  Easin  of  the  Mississippi,  up  to  the  wall  of  the 
Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  and  the  Pacific  Maritime  Slope, 
are  concerned.  Serious  arguments  of  any  difficulties  within  these 
divisions  of  the  whole  distance  are  settled  and  have  ceased.  All 
that  remains  enigmatical  to  the  public  mind,  and  unresolved,  is 
the  interval  occupied  by  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the 
Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands,  and  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  which  conjointly  form  the  "  mountain  formation  of 
North  America,"  extending  continuously  from  Tchuantepcc  to 
the  Arctic  Sea.  How  this  complicated  barrier  of  immense 
mountains,  1000  miles  in  breadth,  is  to  be  surmounted,  is  now 
obtaining  its  illustration  by  the  establishment  of  the  Mormons  in 
Utah,  and  the  military  expedition  sent  against  them.  It  is  by 
the  South  Pass,  which  is  the  gateway  of  the  American  people 
and  their  commerce  to  Asia,  and  the  onlj/  one,  as  exclusively  as 
is  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  that  of  exit  out  into  the  Atlantic,  to  the 
nations  of  the  Mediterranean,  now  and  in  all  ages  passed. 

There  exists  between  the  Basins  of  the  Mediterranean  and  of 
the  Mississippi,  a  perfect  identity  in  position,  physical  character- 
istics, historical  prestige,  and  social  concord.  A  comparison  of 
the  one  with  the  other  will  furnish  a  luminous  illustration,  to 
explain  the  present  generation  of  the  American  people  to  itself, 
and  to  guide  all  future  generations.  The  area  in  square  miles  of 
these  two  basins  is  the  same.  Four-fifths  of  the  surface  of  the 
former  is  occupied  by  the  salt-water  expanse  of  the  Pontic,  Pro- 
pontic,  Adriatic,  and  Mediterranean  Seas,  into  which  flow  the 
Danube,  the  Nile,  the  Po,  and  the  Rhone,  rivers  having  narrow 
9  Q 


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100 


THE" CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


valleys  and  Imperfect  navigation;  protruding  out  between  these 
seas  are  the  peninsulas  of  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Italy,  Fpain,  and 
the  African  coast,  all  filled  full  Avith  mountain  vortebia3,  rugged 
and  poorly  adapted  to  agriculture.  The  sea  surface  is  stormy 
and  dangerous  to  navigation,  the  rivers  are  short  and  deficient  in 
channel,  the  shores  are  impracticable  to  land  except  where  har- 
bors are  constructed,  and  the  inhabitable  lands  arranged  in 
rugged  and  isolated  masses.  Yet,  from  the  first  pioneer  voyage 
of  Hercules  down  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  Pillars  which  still 
immortalize  his  energies,  to  the  present  age,  there  has  existed  a 
certain  imperfect  compact  in  the  political,  social,  religious,  and 
commercial  relations  of  the  people  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
vestal  fire  of  civilization  has  never  been  entirely  quenched.  It 
has  spread  out  to  illuminate  the  whole  area,  both  under  the 
political  system  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  religious  system 
of  the  Roman  Church.  It  has  overrun  the  brim,  and  is  inherited 
by  the  modern  European  nations,  who  are  the  dispersed  progeny 
of  Rome. 

The  "  Basin  of  the  Mississippi"  fills  more  perfectly  the  tem- 
perate zone.  The  counterpart  of  the  salt-water  surface  is  a 
delicious,  undulating  plane,  everywhere  channelled  by  rivers 
navigable  to  their  very  sources  :  navigation  is  everywhere  as  safe 
and  constant  as  upon  a  canal ;  the  line  of  accessible  shore  is  in 
length  absolutely  infinite ;  the  soil  is  uniformly  calcareous, 
arable,  of  inexhaustible  fertility,  and  sufficiently  irrigated  from 
the  clouds ;  no  mountain,  no  sheet  of  water,  no  swau-p  is  any- 
where found  to  break  the  uniform  productiveness  of  this  immense 
expanse ;  no  rapids  to  interrupt  the  universal  navigation  jf  the 
rivers. 

Europe  is  bi^iocted  by  a  broad  mountain  chain  traversing  it 
continuously  from  Gibraltar  to  Siberia,  under  the  names  of  the 
Pyrenees,  Alps,  Carpathians,  and  called  by  the  Romans  "  di'cor- 


i 


'4' 


THE   SOUTH   PASS    OF   AMERICA. 


101 


tia  aquarum"  (the  divide  of  waters).  What,  therefore,  is  out- 
side of  the  Basin  of  the  jMediterranean  is,  for  the  most  part,  in 
the  inhospitable  "  Basin  of  the  Baltic,"  its  climate  and  general 
features  not  unlike  Labrador. 

All  along  the  northern  front  of  the  "  Mississippi  Basin," 
expand  beyond  an  imperceptible  barrier,  the  "Basins  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  Saskatchewan,"  similarly  calcareous,  similarly 
abounding  in  navigation,  and  only  moderately  inferior  to  it  in 
fertility,  in  geniality  of  climate,  and  in  area. 

The  surface,  then,  of  the  European  Basin  is  salt-water  and 
mountainous.  That  of  the  American  Basin  a  plain  of  calcareous, 
arable  soil.  The  former  has  a  maritime  climate,  the  latter  a 
continental  climate,  superior  in  dryness  and  salubrity.  The 
former  has  a  restricted  and  dangerous,  the  latter  an  abundant 
and  safe  navigation.  In  land-transportation  the  contrast  is  still 
more  strikingly  diverse  and  favorable  to  the  Mississippi. 

The  Basin  of  the  Mediterranean,  under  the  rule  of  the  Roman 
Emperor  Trajan,  attained  a  population  of  07ie  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  millions.  This  was  then  ohiefly  congregated  in  the  eastern 
half;  it  is  now  in  the  western  half,  in  which  direction  the  ^j?'e.s- 
sure  always  preponderates.  At  present  the  Basin  of  the  Missis- 
sippi contains  twelve  millions  of  inhabitants.  It  will  conveniently 
sustain  tioelve  hundred  millions.  This  is  noio  an  immense  em- 
pire. Comparisons  drawn  from  history  or  existing  empires,  arc 
very  feeble  illustrations  of  what  is  to  grow  up  on  this  already 
radicated  foundation.  All  the  features  of  nature,  all  the  prin- 
ciples of  progress,  social  and  political,  are  here  original;  this 
undulating  plain,  uniformly  and  universally  calcareous;  this  cir- 
cular conGguratioU;  running  flush  out  to  the  icpelling  lines  of  the 
Arctic  and  Torrid  Zones;  this  miraculously-balanced  variety  of 
temperature,  climate,  prairie,  forest,  land,  rivers,  rain,  and  sun- 
shine, minerals  and  contiguous  expanses,  now  arable  and  now 


■w 


i 


Ur 


102 


THE   cl&NTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


i    I; 


M 


past„  -^,1 — all  these  constitute  an  original  order  of  physical  facta, 
simple  and  symmetrical,  hut  sublime.  The  rising  of  consecutive 
States  out  of  the  wilderness,  erected  hy  spontaneous  industry; 
the  unabating  deluge  of  men  daily  pouring  forth  and  daily  pushed 
onward  by  the  hand  of  God;  the  rushing  march  of  empire;  the 
profound  internal  order  and  systematic  economy  which  pervades 
and  guides  this  mass,  more  numerous  than  many  armies;  the 
instinct  of  discipline  and  self-government  everywhere  felt  and 
always  obeyed  ;  no  central  military  or  religious  power  anywhere 
seen — all  these  array  themselves  to  announce  the  presence  of 
principles  and  power  intensely  original  and  inteuL;ely  potential  in 
social  and  politi'jal  influences. 

Memory  will  suggest  how  slow  and  narrow,  until  quite  modern 
times,  has  been  the  column  of  organized  civilization  on  the  old 
continent.  The  whole  African  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  ia 
socially  semi-barbarous,  and  has  been  so  uniformly  since  the 
deluge.  Upon  and  beyond  the  Danube  its  permanence  is  quite 
recent  and  its  light  still  crepuscular.  Contrast  the  ele»"ents  of 
society  and  their  history,  filling  the  face  of  Europe  from  viibraltar 
to  Norway,  with  that  of  America  from  Cuba  to  Hudson's  Bay, 
both  fronting  to  the  west !  In  the  former  appear  distracting 
nationalities,  domestic  force  and  fraud,  no  systematic  union,  no 
moral  harmony,  no  uniformity  of  races,  no  intelligent  concord  in 
relip:ions.  In  the  latter  is  a  compact  front,  where  all  these 
elements  reversed  are  blended  in  civic  concord,  fiicd  by  a  common 
hope,  inspirdfd  by  one  destiny,  and  having  one  God,  one  heart, 
one  aim,  and  one  supreme  ambition. 

Such  are  the  characteristics  of  the  two  basins,  contrasted  the 
one  with  the  other.  They  both  slope  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and 
are  face  to  face.  In  the  mythological  history  of  Hercules  we 
read  the  first  intelligent  record  of  that  struggle  for  dominance 
over  the  Mediterranean,  which  has  been  ever  since  a  drama  of 


THE    SOUTH    PASS   OP   JWVIERICA. 


103 


uninterrupted  acts.  In  this  drama  appear  tlic  tragic  sieges  of 
Troy,  Tyre,  Athens,  Carthage,  Alexandria,  Byzantium,  Home, 
Rhodes,  Gibialtar,  Malta,  and  Sebastopol;  among  a  thousand 
combats  by  sea  and  land  the  naval  victories  of  Salamis,  Actium, 
Lepanto,  Aboukir,  and  Trafalgar.  From  history,  -which  is  tht 
narrative  of  this  struggle  of  four  thousand  years,  is  apparent  the 
perpetual  incubation  of  military  brute  force  always  in  the 
majority  ;  civic  virtue  and  municipal  independence  as  uniformly 
in  the  mincrity,  checkered  by  heroic  resistance  and  perpetually- 
recurring  martyrdom.  It  has  been  the  design  of  the  American 
continental  republic,  from  its  first  colonial  origin,  to  reverse  this 
doom  J  to  elevate  civic  concord  to  the  administration  of  political 
power ;  to  sustain  it  there ;  to  dispense  with  the  whole  scheme 
of  military  despotism  without  respect  to  its  antiquity,  its  arro- 
gance, or  the  heretofore  universal  success  of  its  subtle  union  of 
hypocrisy  and  force ;  to  inaugurate  for  mankind  a  code  of  political 
practice,  which  shall  bring  the  science  of  government  into  accord 
with  the  divine  code  of  morals  and  religion,  cradled  18G0  years 
ago  in  the  manger  of  the  stable  of  Bethlehem  ! 

This  mission  of  civic  empire  has  for  its  oracular  principle  the 
physical  characteristics  and  configuration  of  our  continent, 
wherein  the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi  predominates  as  supremely 
as  the  sun  among  the  planets. 

The  Basin  of  the  Mediterranean  is  then  a  surface  of  barren 
sea,  with  mountain  masses,  imperfectly  fitted  for  population,  pro- 
truding above  it;  that  of  the  Mississippi  is  a  calcareous  plain  of 
haul,  everywhere  interlaced  and  ramified  with  navigable  arteries. 
Both  are  traversed  centrally  by  the  zodiac  of  empires  within 
which  the  current  of  civilization  has  flowed  in  all  ages  from  east 
to  west.  This  current,  descending  the  3Ieditorrancan,  and 
drawn  in  by  the  converging  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia,  pours 
forth  its  whole  concentrated  volume  through  the  supreme  pass 
9* 


w 


1 


-I' 


'3  m 


V  :  :    ■  i. 


4:) 


^4 


104 


THE   CENTUAL    GOLD    REGION. 


known  now  and  in  all  ages  as  tlio  "  Pillars  of  Ilorulcs."  What 
is  aceoniplislied  by  this  convergence  of  the  continents  of  the  old 
world,  in  reducing  all  the  outlets  of  navigation,  and  consequently 
of  all  commerce,  to  the  single  Pass  of  Hercules,  is  still  more 
absolutely  accomplished  Tor  our  continent  by  the  "Mountain 
Formation."  This  is  the  South  Pass  of  North  America,  the 
exact  equivalent  single  pass,  in  our  ctutinent  of  /t/JuZ-basins,  to 
the  wa/cr-pass  of  Gibraltar  among  the  wa.er-basins  of  the  African 
hemisphere.  The  latitude  is  42°  24',  the  longitude  109°  26'. 
This  is  the  same  latitude  as  Boston,  Bayonne  and  Marseilles,  in 
France,  and  of  Trieste  and  Constantinople. 

To  delineate  the  features  of  the  South  Pass,  so  that  the  topo- 
graphy of  the  plain,  the  prodigious  sierras  which  surround  it, 
the  rivers  radiating  out  of  it,  and  the  gorges  by  which  they  com- 
mence their  gentle  declinations  to  the  seas,  may  all  be  grouped  in 
one  tjlancCf  as  a  portrait  in  daguerreotype,  is  not  easy  to  be  done. 
The  plain  is  elevated  7500  feet  above  the  sea;  it  is  beyond  or 
tvest  of  the  Cordillera ;  its  surface  of  clay  is  so  absolutely  smooth 
as  to  admit  of  uninterrupted  vision,  as  over  water ;  it  is  in  shape 
a  triangle,  having  very  acute  angles  at  the  northern  and  southern 
points,  and  one  very  obtuse  at  the  source  of  Sweetwater,  which 
is  the  eastern  point.  The  western  side,  200  miles  in  length, 
corresponds  with  the  bed  of  the  Bio  Verde  (Green  river),  run- 
ning directly  from  north  to  south,  to  which  the  whole  plain 
slants ;  immediately  along  its  western  bank  rises  the  Sierra  Wa- 
satch, forming  a  continuous  mountain  barrier  towards  the  west; 
opposite  the  centre  of  this  hypothenuse  is  the  gorge  of  Sweet- 
water enveloping  the  eastern  point  of  the  triangle ;  the  remaining 
sides  extend  hence,  the  one  to  the  north-west,  the  other  to  the 
south-west.  Along  the  former,  in  length  109  miles,  rises  the 
stupendous  mass  of  the  Cordillera,  known  here  locally  as  the 
"  Wind  Biver  Mountain  j"  along  the  latter  a  similar  mass  of  the 


THE    SOUTH    PASS   OF   AMEUICA. 


105 


Cordillera,  but  of  inferior  altitude,  kuown  locally  as  the  ''Table 
Mountain."  The  area  of  the  Plain  of  the  South  Pass  is  about 
equivalent  to  that  of  New  Jersey.  Its  surface  is  of  clay, 
resembling  kaoline,  of  which  porcelain  is  made,  and  has  the 
a'isolute  smoothness  of  that  material  filtered  through  water  and 
compacted  by  pressure.  From  the  three  angles  of  its  rim  issue 
the  Sweetwater,  flowing  east  into  the  Platte  and  to  the  Atlantic ; 
the  Snake  river,  flowing  north-west  to  Walla- Walla,  and  thence 
with  tlie  Columbia  to  the  North  Pacific ;  and  the  Rio  Verde, 
south  into  the  Bay  of  California ;  by  whose  western  affluent  also, 
Black  Fork,  exists  the  easiest  egress  into  the  Basin  of  the  Great 
Salt  Lake. 

Most  probably  no  spot  on  the  globe  hD?>  grouped  into  one  view 
so  much  of  intense  grandeur  in  the  variety  and  number  of  its 
physical  wonders.  From  a  single  ice-crowned  summit  of  the 
Wind  River  Mountain  are  seen  the  gorges  of  the  Missouri,  Yel- 
lowstone, Platte,  Colorado,  and  Snake  rivers,  all  radiating  from 
its  base,  and  each  the  equal  of  the  Danube  in  length  and  the 
volume  of  its  waters.  Five  primary  chains  of  snowy  mountains 
here  culminate  together  to  this  central  apex,  from  which  they 
radiate  out  between  the  rivers ;  the  dorsal  mass  of  the  Cordillera 
reaching  towards  the  north  to  the  Arctic  Sea,  and  towards  the 
south  to  the  Antarctic ;  the  Sierra  Wasatch,  the  Snake  river 
chain,  the  Salmon  River  Mountains,  all  crested  with  snow,  and 
each  having  an  unbroken  length  of  1000  miles. 

The  South  Pass  is  1400  miles  from  Astoria.  It  is  the  same 
distance  from  St.  Louis.  It  is,  then,  in  the  middle  region  of  the 
continent.  It  is  the  only  pass  through  the  "  Mountain  Forma- 
tion" from  hence  as  far  as  the  Isthmus  of  Tchuantepec.  From 
this  comes  the  name  South  Pass,  as  being  the  most  southern  pass 
to  which  you  may  ascend  by  an  affluent  of  the  Atlantic,  and  step 
immediately  on  to  a  stream  descending  uninterruptedly  out  to 


M   m 


ir- 


If 


I  > 


106 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


the  Pacific.  This  name  is  as  ancient  as  the  Pass  itself.  Into  it 
concentrate  the  great  trails  of  the  buffalo — geographers  and  road- 
makers  before  the  coming  of  man.  The  Indian,  the  Mexican, 
and  the  American,  successors  to  one  another,  have  not  deflected 
from  the  instincts  of  the  buffalo,  nor  will  they,  whilst  the  prime- 
val mountains  last  in  their  present  unshattered  bulk.  This  is 
the  continental  highway  of  the  people,  through  which  exclusiveli/ 
millions  have  already  poured  to  and  fro  with  their- children,  their 
free  principles,  their  cattle — assembled  in  caravans,  on  foot,  and 
mounted — with  wagons,  hand-carts,  knapsacks,  and  bringing 
with  them  their  household  gods,  and  the  tabernacle  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty. 

The  South  I*ass  is  the  on/i/  and  exclusive  continental i>ass.  The 
outlet  at  the  eastern  angle  is  known  as  the  gorge  of  the  Sweet- 
water river,  which  descends  to  the  Platte  j  that  at  the  northern 
angle  as  the  gorge  of  Grosventre  river,  which  descends  to  the 
Snake  river.  These  are  both  short  and  slender  mountain 
streams,  accomplishing  their  descent  in  beds  of  the  extremest 
sinuosity,  but  without  abrupt  waterfalls.  They  both  flow  from 
chasms  in  the  flanks  of  the  immense  mass  of  the  Wind  River 
Mountain,  which  here  forms  an  arc  fronting  to  the  west,  and 
issue  out  upon  the  plain.  But  the  plain  is  traversed  by  a  gentle 
divide,  parallel  with  the  mountain  base,  and  no  more  distinguish- 
able than  the  bevel  given  by  engineers  to  any  ordinary  street. 
Against  this  these  two  streams  are  deflected  into  opposite  courses, 
the  former  to  burrow  its  way  around  the  arc  of  the  mountain  to 
the  south-east,  the  other  towards  the  north-west.  To  one  who 
observes  this  from  the  plain,  there  is  presented  a  similar  miracu- 
lous configuration  of  the  land,  such  as  displays  itself  to  one  who, 
navigating  the  Propontic  Sea,  beholds  the  Dardanelles  upon  his 
right  hand  and  the  Bosphorus  on  his  left.  Moreover,  the  sky  is 
without  clouds  and  rainless,  the  atmosphere  intensely  brilliant^ 


Mf  i 


.,•■11.'  , 


"1 


THE   SOUTH   PASS   OP  AMERICA. 


107 


temperate,  and  serene,  encompassed  round  by  scenery  of  the 
austerest  sublimity.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  elevation  of  the 
South  Pass  is  7500  feet,  and  that  Snake  river  runs  contbiuousli/ 
out  of  it  by  the  most  direct  and  favorable  course,  of  1400  miles, 
to  the  Pacific  Sea,  tunnelling  consecutively  the  Blue  or  Salmon 
River  range  of  mountains,  the  Snowy  Andes,  and  all  other  trans- 
verso  ranges  and  obstructions.  Here  is,  then,  an  uninterrupted 
water  declination  through  and  across  the  whole  "mountain  for- 
mation," descending  by  a  plane,  dipping  five  feet  to  the  mile ! 
From  tlie  adjacent  eastern  rim  of  the  Plain  of  the  South  Pass 
runs  out  Sweetwater  into  the  Platte,  which,  tunnelling  consecu- 
tively all  the  outlying  ranges  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra 
Madre,  forms  a  similar  uninterrupted  water  declination,  in  a 
very  straight  line  of  1400  miles  to  St.  Louis,  descending  by  the 
same  average  dip  of  five  feet  per  mile.  Everybody  is  familiar 
with  the  existing  railways  which,  radiating  from  St.  Louis  and 
pursuing  coatinuously  the  plains  of  the  Ohio  and  St.  Lawrence, 
outflank  the  Alloghanies  between  Syracuse  and  Rome,  and 
descend  by  the  Hudson  river  to  New  York. 

The  sciences  which  delineate  and  explain  to  the  human  under- 
standing the  details  of  matter,  as  it  fits  itself  in  myriads  of  mil- 
lions of  variegated  forms  to  fill  out  the  supreme  order  of  the 
universe,  develop  nothing  so  interesting  to  the  heart  of  civilized 
man  as  this  single  sublime  fact  of  physical  geography  in  the 
supreme  engineering  of  the  Creator.  This  line  of  gently-undu- 
lating river-grades,  girdling  the  middle  zone  of  our  Union  from 
sea  to  sea,  in  one  smooth,  continuous  and  unbroken  cord,  3G00 
miles  in  length,  fitting  the  isothermal  axis  of  the  temperate 
climates,  crossing  one  river  only  at  St.  Louis,  and  outflanking  all 
the  mountains,  presents  to  us  the  counteipart  of  that  water-line 
of  the  Old  World,  commencing  at  the  extremity  of  the  Euxine, 


li^r 


I'. 


'f! 


■-•* 


^W. 


>x 


n 


'■  p 


i  i 


108 


THE   CENTRAL  GOLD   REGION. 


passing  down  the  Mediterranean,  and  debouching  out  into  the 
ocean. 

From  the  South  Pass  to  Mexico  the  primary  mountain  chains 
spread  out.  They,  together  with  the  great  rivers  which  divide 
them,  are  longitudinal,  parallel,  and  uupcrforated.  The  rivers 
grow  deeper  as  they  itpproach  the  sea,  increasing  the  altitude 
and  abruptness  of  the  mountain  flanks,  which  overlap  one 
another,  and  increase  and  complicate  the  mural  barriers.  No- 
where, within  this  interval,  are  the  mountains  reduced  to  a 
single  dividing  barrier,  nor  is  there  presented  anywhere  the 
essentials  of  a  practical  pass.  Nowhere  is  to  be  found  a  suffi- 
cient depression  in  the  mountain  crest,  nor  a  continuous  grada- 
tion from  the  summit-cre.st,  prolonged  to  the  cast  and  to  the  west, 
down  both  declinations  to  the  seas. 

The  South  Pass  is  elevated  7500  feet  above  the  seas,  from 
which  it  is  some  1500  miles  remote.  It  has,  then,  a  continental 
climate,  whose  atmosphere  is  tempered  by  the  altitude  and  by 
the  absence  of  moisture.  Ilencc,  an  intaise  serenity  is  the  pro- 
minent feature,  perpetual  sunshine,  a  tonic  and  salubrious  air,  a 
vernal  temperature.  Along  the  continental  line  the  changes 
from  the  continental  to  the  maritime  climate,  and  vice  versd, 
graduate  themselves  with  the  same  delicate  scale  as  the  surface 
slopes.  Uniformity  of  climate,  from  sea  to  sea,  is  then  so  nearly 
approached,  that  it  actually  exists  all  along  this  line  in  absolute 
plenitude.  Human  society,  in  the  current  course  of  ages, 
vibrates  to  and  fro  through  periods  of  barbarism.  God  and 
Nature  endure  constantly  eternal  and  perfect.  Manners,  reli- 
gions, policies,  change  and  become  barbarous  or  the  opposite,  as 
they  harmonize  with  God  and  Nature.  Science  develops  how 
this  harmony  may  bo  known  and  practised.  As  we  recede  from 
it,  turbulent  force  dominates,  numbers  are  dwarfed,  civilization 


;  ■!     j.' 


THE   SOUTH   PASS   OF  AMERICA. 


109 


withers,  liberty  ia  lost :  as  wc  approach  it,  civilization  expands, 
charity  smiles,  order  and  empire  rise. 

Nature  here  for  us,  upon  our  Continent,  amidst  a  stupendous 
vastness  of  configuration,  preserves  an  austere  simplicity,  which 
guides  the  instinctive  ijlancc  of  empire  with  unerring  certainty. 
Hero  is  that  continental  line,  the  discovery  of  which  mankind 
has  awaited  with  the  keenest  curiosity,  in  the  ripeness  of  time 
the  hope  of  humanity  is  realized ;  it  is  by  this  that  our  people 
are  about  to  construct  the  Continental  llaiUvay.  Like  the  reful- 
gent girdle  with  which  antiijuity  bound,  in  one  chorus,  the 
sisterhood  of  the  Graces,  we  will  behold  united,  by  one  Zone, 
the  three  sister  Continents,  Europe,  America,  and  Asia. 

Here,  through  the  heart  of  our  territory,  our  population,  our 
states,  our  cities,  our  farms  and  habitations,  will  traverse  the 
broad  current  of  commerce,  where  passengers  and  cargoes  may  at 
any  time  or  place  embark  upon  or  leave  the  vehicles  of  transpor- 
tation. Down  with  the  parricidal  treason  which  will  banish  it 
from  the  land,  from  among  the  people,  to  force  it  into  the  barren 
ocean,  outside  of  society,  through  foreign  nations,  into  the  torrid 
heats,  along  solitary  circuitous  routes,  imprisoned  for  months  in 
great  ships  !  This  Continental  Railway  is  an  essential  domestic 
institution,  more  powerful  and  more  permanent  than  law,  or 
popular  consent,  or  political  constitutions,  to  thoroughly  complete 
the  great  system  of  fluvial  arteries  which  fraternize  us  into  one 
people;  to  bind  the  two  scahuards  to  this  one  continental  Union, 
like  ears  to  the  human  head  j  to  radicate  the  foundations  of  the 
Union  so  broad  and  deep,  and  establish  its  structure  so  solid,  that 
no  possible  force  or  stratagem  can  shake  its  permanence,  and  to 
secure  such  scope  and  space  to  progress,  that  equality  and  pros- 
perity shall  never  be  impaired  or  chafe  for  wan    of  room. 

The  pious  veneration  spontaneously  awarded  by  the  human 
heart  to  men,  whose  lives  exhibit  exalted  devotion  and  exalted 


I:  <  ' 


t'l 


H    ; 


110 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


•    ri! 


Bucccss,  inspirinp;  and  perpetuating  in  society  the  " prina'plc  of 
virtue  nlwu^x  in  r.crrcisc,"  has  placed  Hercules,  the  pioneer  of 
the  system  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  the  number  of  the  immortal 
gods  of  antic^uity :  a  constellation  in  the  ethereal  canopy  diur- 
nally  renews  his  memory,  his  name,  and  his  actions.  Modern 
times,  uoccptinp;  the  tradition,  behold  it  stamped  upon  the  coin 
of  Spain  and  the  Indies,  to  obtain  a  circulation  as  universal  and 
familiar  as  the  human  race.  Yet  the  American  people  pursue 
the  planting  of  empire,  advancing  with  intense  celerity,  moving 
to  the  front  according  to  a  system  understood  and  self-disciplined, 
marching  with  the  cadence  of  an  army  of  innumerable  legions, 
uniting  in  one  homogeneous  ordi^r,-  with  the  same  energies,  a 
single  aim,  and  rushing  to  consummate  a  common  destiny. 
Shining  in  the  front  of  this  marching  host,  the  pioneer  and  exem- 
plar, "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen,"  appears  the  form  of  Washington,  whoso  oracular 
wisdom  and  intrepid  constancy  inspired  the  normal  councils 
where  its  mould  was  cast,  its  strategy  fixed,  and  its  unalterable 
mission  first  inaugurated.  Lot  this  name,  then,  find  a  monument 
around  whose  base  the  condensed  column  of  progress  shall  file  to 
and  fro  during  all  future  ages  !  Whore  the  summit  crest  of  our 
continent  is  found ;  the  focal  source  of  its  rivers  and  its  sierras ; 
where  the  cloud-compelling  Cordillera  culminates  over  the 
"  Gateway  of  empires ;"  let  these  commemorate  this  name  im- 
mortally, while  the  grass  shall  grow  and  the  waters  run,  as  firm 
and  enduring  as  the  loftiest  mountain.  Let  the  children  of  the 
world  be  taught  to  say :  Behold  the  Pass  and  the  Pillars  of 
Washington  ! 

The  history  of  the  human  ra'O  arranges  and  gauges  itself  by 
generations.  Thirty-three  years  are  estimated  to  be  the  period 
of  control  exercised  by  each  generation  over  the  long  life  of  a 
nation.     As  each  succeeds  its  predecessor,  the  work  of  progress 


li'l' ; 


■% 


u 


rl 


i 


ft  H 


if 
r    I' 


11 


J. 


I     i)i 


18  rcmvigoi 
The  prcsen 
und  iiiuugu 

The  firs 
tincDtal  ll( 
tho  contitu 
that  ocean 
across  the 
generution 
onward  to 
round  the 
dhuension> 

As  wc 
wisdom,  01 
surpass  th 
tho  lumins 
day:— 


The  m 
Mississipp 
hend   its 
characteri 
its  centre 


1  f  ( 


THE    ORKAT    HASIN   OF   THE   MIHSTSSITPI. 


Ill 


is  rcinvigoratcd,  and  frcsli  .power  and  now  conquests  arcuniulato. 
Tlio  present  is  the  srvvuty-lhtrd  year  of  the  Federal  (yonatitution, 
and  inauj,'uratc3  the  third  generation  of  our  united  people. 

The  firnt  gave  to  us  this  sacred  Union,  and  founded  our  con- 
tinental Republic.  The  secuml  luis  fllled  up  the  Atlantic  half  of 
the  continent  with  states,  secured  the  maritime  connections  with 
that  ocean  and  with  Europe,  and  hu.'j  blazed  for  us  the  way 
across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific  and  to  Asia.  We,  the  third 
generation,  rccijivc  .Vom  them  the  pious  task  to  plant  states 
onward  to  that  cccan;  to  complete  the  zouiut  ot  traturnal  mitions 
round  the  gli'be,  and  to  set  deep  and  firm  to  their  outward 
dimensions  the  foundations  they  have  laid. 

As  wc  assume  our  ta&k,  illuminated  by  the  example  of  their 
wisdom,  energy,  and  glory,  intent  to  equal  them  in  the  first  and 
surpass  them  in  the  rest,  may  we  not  repeat  this  invocation  to 
the  luminary  of  the  universe,  as  he  departs  to  usher  in  another 
day:— 

"  The  weary  sun  htth  made  a  golden  sot, 
And,  by  the  brighr  track  of  his  fiery  car, 
Gives  token  of  a  goodly  day  to-morrow  t" 


it '      \n 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  GREAT  BASIN  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  America  is  the  Basin  of  the 
Mississippi.  As  yet  the  popular  mind  does  not  clearly  compre- 
hend its  dimensions,  and  the  understanding  of  its  physical 
characteristics  is  indistinct  and  vague.  It  is  bisected  through 
its  centre  by  a  supreme  artery,  which  above  St.  Louis  has  received 
10 


ri! 


:^ 


■I   3 

ii 


I 

I -'I 


112 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


the  name  of  the  Missouri,  and  below,  the  Mississippi  river. 
This  is  5000  miles  in  length,  end  its  surface  is  a  continuous 
inclined  plane,  descending  seven  inches  in  the  mile.  Into  this 
central  artery,  as  into  a  common  trough,  descend  innumerable 
rivers,  coming  from  the  great  mountain  chains  of  the  continent. 
All  of  the  immense  area  thus  drained,  forms  a  single  basin,  of 
•which  the  mountains  form  the  rim.  It  may  also  be  called  an 
amjMheatre,  embracing  1,123,100  miles  of  surface.  This  has 
been,  during  the  antediluvian  ages,  the  bed  of  a  great  ocean,  such 
as  is  now  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or  the  Mediterranean,  above  the  sur- 
face of  which  the  mountains  protrUdcd  themselves  as  islands. 
Gradually  filled  up  by  the  filtration  of  the  water  during  countless 
ages,  it  has  reached  its  present  altitude  above  the  other  basins, 
over  which  the  oceans  now  still  roll,  and  into  which  the  waters 
have  retired.  The  "  Basin  of  the  M'ssissippi"  is  then  a  pave- 
ment many  thousand  feet  in  depth,  formed  by  the  sediment  of 
the  superincumbent  water,  deposited  stratum  upon  stratum,  com- 
pressed by  its  weight  and  crystallized  into  rock  by  its  chemical 
fermentation  and  pressure.  It  is  in  exact  imitation  of  this  sub- 
lime process  of  the  natural  world,  that  every  housewife  com- 
presses the  milk  of  her  dairy  into  solid  cheese  and  butter.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  homogeneous,  undulating  plain  of  the  secondary  or 
sedimentary  formation,  surmounted  by  a  covering  of  soil  from 
which  springs  the  vegetation,  as  hair  from  the  external  skin  of 
an  animal.  Through  this  coating  of  soil,  and  into  the  soft  surface 
strata  of  rock,  the  descending  fresh  waters  burrow  their  channels, 
converging  everywhere  from  the  circumferent  rim  to  the  lowest 
level  and  pass  out  to  the  sea.  In  this  system,  which  is  the  same 
as  the  circulation  of  the  blood  in  animal  life,  the  Missouri  river 
and  the  minutest  rill  that  flows  from  a  garden  fountain  has  each 
its  specific  and  conspicuous  place.      Hence  the  corresponding 


THE  GREAT   BASIN   OF  THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


113 


order  in  the  undulations,  the  variety,  and  the  complexity  of  con- 
tour in  the  surface  and  in  its  vesretation. 

Such  is  this  vast  Basin,  whose  transverse  diameter  ia  2500 
miles,  and  so  simple,  homogeneous,  and  clear  is  the  system  of  its 
geology  and  its  waters.  The  vegetation  and  climate  have  the 
same  order  of  arrangement,  and  more  varied.  These  vary  with 
the  latitude,  the  distance  from  the  oceans,  and  with  the  altitude. 
The  insular  site  of  New  York  city  is  upon  the  bank  of  the  sea, 
is  sixty  feet  elevated  above  the  sea,  and  is  constantly  irrigated  by 
the  evaporation  coming  from  the  sea ;  it  is  in  latitude  41°  80' 
north.  The  plain  of  the  South  Pass  is  2000  miles  from  the  sea, 
is  elevated  7500  feet  above  the  sea,  has  no  vapor  from  the  sea, 
but  an  atmosphere  rainless  rad  without  dew;  it  is  in  latitude 
42°  30'  north.  Such  arc  the  contrasts  in  the  elements  affecting 
climate  and  vegetation.  Through  the  interval  between  these  two 
extremes  Nature  changes,  from  one  to  the  other,  by  a  graduation 
so  delicate  and  uniform  as  to  be  scarcely  sensible  to  a  traveller 
who  goes  less  than  the  whole  distance.  Yet,  to  one  who  does  so, 
these  changes  are  as  palpable  upon  the  face  of  Nature,  as  are  the 
diurnal  alternations  of  light  and  darkness.  The  timber,  the  flora, 
and  the  grasses  indicate  the  presence  and  absence  of  atmospheric 
irrigation,  as  palpably  as  the  sun  indicates  the  day,  and  the  stars 
the  night.  All  that  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Basin  lying 
.ootween  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Atlantic,  is  densely  tim- 
I  >red,  excepting  only  a  portion  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wiscon- 
8'- ;  so  also  are  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  South 
Missouri.  An  irregular  line  from  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  run- 
ning towards  the  south  and  west  into  Texas,  defines  the  cessation 
of  the  timber.  Between  this  line  and  the  sea  exists  a  continuous 
forest  region,  perpetually  moistciied  by  showers  from  the  ocean. 
Beyond  this  line,  and  deeper  into  the  continent,  the  upland 
ceases  to  nourish  timber,  which  is  replaced  by  luxuriant  annual 


ii:i 


l|! 


ni: 


114 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


grasses,  though  narrow  lines  of  forest  continue  upon  the  saturated 
bottoms  of  the  rivers  and  in  the  islands.  This  is  the  Prairie 
region  of  luxuriant,  annual  grasses,  and  soft,  arable  soil,  over 
which  the  fires  annually  sweep  after  the  decay  of  vegetation. 
The  termination  of  this  belt  is  marked  by  an  irregular  line 
parallel  to  the  first,  where  the  rains  cease,  and  the  timber 
entirely  disappears.  It  is  about  450  miles  in  width,  and  within 
it  artificial  irrigation  is  not  practised,  nor  necessary,  it  being 
everywhere  soft,  arable,  and  fertile.  To  this  succeeds  the  im- 
mense rainless  ;i'^"i  onward  to  the  mountains,  exclusively  pas- 
toral, of  a  comp£  c.  coated  with  the  dwarf  bufi'alo  grass, 
without  trees,  ant  the  abode  of  the  aboriginal  cattle.  That  no 
desert  does  or  can  exist  within  this  Basin,  is  manifest  from  the 
abundance  and  magnitude  of  the  rivers,  the  uniform  calcareous 
formation,  the  absence  of  a  tropical  sun,  its  longitudinal  position 
across  the  temperate  zone,  and  the  greatness  and  altitude  of  the 
mountains  on  its  western  rim.  The  river  system  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Basin  rosembles  a  fan  of  palm  leaf.  The  stem  in  the  State 
of  Louisiana  rests  in  the  Gulf;  above,  the  afiiuent  rivers  con- 
verge to  it  from  all  parts  of  the  ccmpass.  From  the  east  come 
in  the  Ilomochitta,  the  Yazoo,  the  Ohio,  the  Illinois,  and  the 
Upper  Blississippi.  From  the  west,  the  Red  river,  the  Washita, 
the  Arkansas,  the  White,  St.  Francis,  and  Osage  rivers,  the 
Kansas,  the  Triple  Platte,  the  L'eau  qui  Cours,  and  the  Yellow- 
stone, all  navigable  rivers  of  great  length  and  importance.  These 
rivers  present  a  continuous  navigable  channel  of  22,500  miles, 
having  45,000  miles  of  shore,  an  amount  of  navigation  and  coast 
equal  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  area  of  the  Mississippi  Basin  classifies  itself  into  one-and- 
a-half  fifths  of  compactly-growing  forest,  the  same  of  prairie,  and 
two-fifths  of  great  plains.     Through  all  of  these  the  river  system 


THE  GREAT    BASIN   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


115 


is  ramified  as  minutely  complex,  as  are  the  veins  and  arteries  of 
the,  human  system. 

The  population  is  at  present  12,000,000.  The  capacity  for 
population  is  indefinite.  Comparison  will  illustrate  this  interest- 
ing fact.  Society  erects  itself  into  empires  in  order  to  arrive  at 
strength,  civilization,  and  permanence.  The  most  perfect  ex- 
ample is  the  empire  of  the  Romans,  whose  history  we  familiarly 
possess  complete,  of  its  rise,  culmination,  and  slow  decline. 
This  empire  occupipd  and  fused  into  one  political  and  social  sys- 
tem the  Basin  of  the  Mediterranean,  whoso  area  is  1,160,000 
square  miles.  From  out  of  this  they  never  passed,  except  into 
the  corner  of  Gaul  and  Britain,  but  restricted  themselves  to  the 
Mediterranean  and  Pontic  Seas,  to  the  Nile,  to  the  Danube,  and 
to  the  Rhone.  This  empire,  embracing  the  above  area,  contained 
under  the  Antonines  131,000,000  of  population,  and  Rome  itself, 
in  the  geographical  centre,  had  a  diameter  of  50  miles  and 
10,000,000  of  inhabitants !  But  the  area  of  this  Basin  is,  for 
the  most  part,  a  salt-water  waste,  into  which  protrude  the  penin- 
sulas of  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Italy,  and  Spain,  themselves  filled 
with  mountain  vertebra;,  and  also  a  few  islands.  Space  for 
habitations  and  the  production  of  food  is,  therefore,  scarce.  The 
equivalent,  with  us,  of  this  salt  surface  and  rugged  mountains, 
is,  everywhere,  an  undulating,  calcareous  plain,  uniformly 
inhabitable  and  productive.  The  rivers  surpass  the  sea  for  the 
freightage  of  commerce,  and  the  front  of  land  upon  them  exceeds 
the  coasts  of  the  oceans  in  amount  and  accessibility.  The  Basin 
of  the  Mississippi  will  then  more  easily  contain  and  feed  ten 
times  the  population,  or  1,310,000,000  of  inhabitants !  If  the 
calcareous  plain  extending  to  the  Arctic  Sea,  the  two  maritime 
fronts,  and  the  mountain  formation,  be  added,  and  the  whole 
compared  to  Europe  and  Asia,  2,000,000,000  will  easily  find 
room — a  population  double  the  existing  human  race !  This 
10*  H 


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110 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION, 


Basin  is  nil  within  the  Temperate  Zone ;  but  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf,  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  tropical  fruits,  flowers,  and  vege- 
tation are  produced.  On  the  high  mountain  slopes  grows  the 
vegetation  of  the  Arctic  Zone.  Between  these  are  found  every 
kind  of  agricultural  production,  as  we  descend  from  the  extremes 
to  the  central  medium.  In  position  it  is  exactly  central  to  the 
continent.  Not  far  remote  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri 
river,  in  the  bosom  of  romantic  scenery  and  fertile  prairie,  is  a 
spot  whore  the  Smokyhill  and  llepublican  rivers,  by  their  con- 
fluence, form  the  Kansas.  This  is  the  geographical  centre  at 
once  of  the  North  American  Continent,  and  of  the  Basin  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  circle  described  from  this  centre  with  a  radius 
to  San  Francisco  will  pass  through  Vancouver  on  the  Columbia, 
the  port  of  Severn  river  on  Hudson's  Bay,  through  Quebec, 
through  Boston,  through  Havana,  Vera  Cruz,  and  the  city  of 
Mexico.  With  a  radius  to  the  49th°,  a  circle  will  pass  through 
Mobile,  New  Orleans,  and  Matagorda.  This  spot  is,  therefore, 
tkc  geographical  centre  of  the  North  American  Continent  and  of 
the  Basin  of  the  Mississi}>pi,  both  at  once.  It  is  also  equally  the 
centre  of  the  American  Union,  as  it  is  now  blocked  out  into 
existing  States  and  into  prospective  States,  to  occupy  sites  in  the 
now-existing  Territories  !  Moreover,  it  is  equidistant  from,  and 
exactly  in,  the  middle  between  the  two  halves  of  the  human 
family,  distinctly  concentrated;  the  one  half  Christians,  occupy- 
ing Western  Europe,  to  the  number  of  259,000,000  of  popula- 
tion ;  the  other  half  Pagans,  occupying  Oriental  Asia  and  Poly- 
nesia, to  the  number  of  650,000,000  !  Europe  has  all  the  outlets 
of  its  inland  seas  and  rivers  towards  the  west,  debouching  on  to 
our  Atlantic  front,  towards  which  its  whole  surface  slopes.  Asia 
similarly  presents  to  our  Pacific  front,  an  Oriental  slope,  contain- 
ing her  great  rivers,  the  densest  masses  of  her  population,  and 
detached  islands  of  great  area,  dense  population,  and  infinite 


I 


ny 


THE   GREAT   BASIN   OP  THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


117 


production.  The  distance  from  the  European  to  the  Asian 
shores  (from  Paris  to  Pekin),  travelling  straight  by  the  continu- 
ous river  line  of  the  Potomac,  Ohio,  Missouri,  Platte,  and  Snake 
rivers,  and  across  the  two  oceans,  is  only  10,000  geographic 
miles.  This  straight  line  is  the  axis  of  that  temperate  zone  of 
the  Northern  Hemisphere  of  the  globe,  thirty-three  degrees  in 
width,  which  comains  four-fifths  of  the  land,  nine-tenths  of  the 
people,  and  all  the  white  races,  commercial  activity,  and  industry 
of  the  civilized  world.  When,  therefore,  this  interval  of  North 
America  shall  be  filled  up,  the  affiliation  of  mankind  will  be 
accomplished,  proximity  recognised,  the  distraction  of  intervening 
oceans  and  equatorial  heats  cease,  the  remotest  nations  be 
grouped  together  and  fused  into  one  universal  and  convenient 
system  of  immediate  relationship. 

Such  are  some  of  the  extraordinary  attractions  presented  to 
mankind,  as  a  social  mass,  by  the  position  and  configuration  of 
the  Mississippi  Basin.  There  is  another  and  superlative  pros- 
pective view.  This  presents  itself  in  contrasting  the  physical 
configuration  of  North  America  with  the  other  continents. 

Europe,  the  smallest  in  area  of  the  continents,  culminates  in 
its  centre  into  the  icy  masses  of  the  Alps.  From  the  glaciers, 
where  all  the  great  rivers  have  their  sources,  they  descend  the 
declivities  and  radiate  to  the  difi"erent  seas.  The  Danube  flows 
directly  east  to  the  Pontic  Sea ;  the  Po,  to  the  Adriatic ;  the 
Rhone,  to  the  Sea  of  Lyons ;  the  Rhine,  north  to  the  German 
Sea.  Walled  off  by  the  Pyrenean  and  Carpathian  Mountains, 
divergent  and  isolated,  are  the  Tagus,  the  Elbe,  and  other  single 
rivers,  affluents  of  the  Baltic,  the  Atlantic,  the  Mediterranean, 
and  the  Pontic  Sea.  Descending  from  common  radiant  points 
and  diverging  every  way  from  one  another,  no  intercommunica- 
tion exists  among  the  rivers  of  Europe  towards  their  sources ; 
navigation  is  petty  and  feeble;  art  and  commerce  have  never, 


m 


•  .1 ' 


I 


I 

I 


i]im 


118 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


\ 


'  I 


during  thirty  centuries,  united  so  many  small  valleys,  remotely 
isolated  by  impenetrable  barriers.  Hence  upon  each  river  dwells 
a  distinct  people,  differing  from  all  the  rest  in  race,  language, 
religion,  interests,  and  habits.  Though  often  politically  amalga- 
mated by  conquest,  they  again  relapse  into  fragments,  from 
innate  geographical  incoherence.  Religious  creeds  and  diplomacy 
form  no  more  enduring  bond.  The  history  of  these  nations  is  a 
story  of  perpetual  war,  of  mutual  extermination :  an  appalling 
dramatic  catalogue  of  a  few  splendid  tyrannies  crushing  multitu- 
dinous millions  of  submissive  and  unchrouicled  serfs. 

Exactly  similar  to  Europe,  though  grander  in  size  and  popula- 
tion, is  Asia.  From  the  stupendous  central  barrier  of  the  Hima- 
layas run  the  four  great  rivers  of  China,  due  cast,  to  discharge 
themselves  under  the  rising  sun :  towards  the  south  run  the 
rivers  of  Cochin  China,  the  Ganges,  and  the  Indus :  towards  the 
west,  the  rivers  of  the  Caspian  :  and  north,  through  Siberia  to 
the  Arctic  Sea,  many  rivers  of  the  first  magnitude.  During  fifty 
centuries,  as  now,  the  Alps  and  Himalaya  Mountains  have 
proved  insuperable  barriers  to  the  amalgamation  of  the  nations 
around  their  bases  and  dwelling  in  the  valleys  that  radiate  from 
their  slopes.  The  continents  of  Africa  and  South  America,  as 
far  as  we  are  familiar  with  the  details  of  their  surfaces,  are  even 
more  than  these  perplexed  into  dislocated  fragments. 

In  contrast,  the  interior  of  North  America  presents  towards 
heaven  an  expanded  bowl,  to  receive  and  fuse  into  harmony 
whatsoever  enters  within  its  rim.  So,  each  of  the  other  con- 
tinents presenting  a  bowl  reversed,  scatter  everything  from  a 
central  apex  into  radiant  distraction.  Political  societies  and 
empires  have  in  all  ages  conformed  themselves  to  these  emphatic 
geographical  facts.  This  Democratic  Republican  empire  of  North 
America  is  then  predestined  to  expand  and  fit  itself  to  the  con- 
tinent ;  to  control  the  oceans  on  either  hand,  and  eventually  the 


; 


THE  GREAT  BASIN   OF   THE   MlSSISSim. 


119 


continents  beyon'.l  them.  Much  is  uncertain,  yet  through  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  future,  this  much  of  eternal  truth  is  discern- 
ible. In  geography  the  antithesis  of  the  old  world,  in  society  wo 
are  and  will  bo  the  reverse.  Our  North  America  will  rapidly 
accumulate  a  population  equalling  that  of  the  rest  of  the  world 
combined :  a  people  one  and  indivisible,  identical  in  manners, 
language,  customs,  and  impulses :  preserving  the  same  civiliza- 
tion, the  same  religion;  imbued  with  the  same  opinions,  and 
having  the  same  political  liberties.  Of  this  we  have  two  illustra- 
tions now  under  our  eye,  the  one  passing  away,  the  other  advanc- 
ing. The  aboriginal  Indian  race,  amongst  whom,  from  Darien 
to  the  Esquimaux,  and  from  Florida  to  Vancouver's  Island, 
exists  a  perfect  identity  in  hair,  complexion,  features,  religion;, 
stature,  and  language :  and,  second,  in  the  instinctive  fusion  into 
one  language  and  into  one  new  race,  immigrant  Germans, 
English,  Norwegians,  Celts,  and  Italians,  whose  individualities 
are  obliterated  in  a  single  generation. 

Thus,  the  perpetuity  and  destiny  of  our  sacred  Union  find 
their  conclusive  proof  and  illustration  in  the  bosom  of  nature. 
The  political  storms  that  periodically  rage  are  but  the  clouds  and 
sunshine  that  give  variety  to  the  atmosphere  and  checker  our 
history  as  we  march.  The  possession  of  the  Basin  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, thus  held  in  unity  by  the  American  people,  is  a  supreme, 
a  crowning  mercy.  Viewed  alone  in  its  wondert'ul  position  and 
capacity  among  the  continents  and  the  nations ;  viewed,  also,  as 
the  dominating  part  of  the  great  calcareous  plain  formed  of  the 
conterminous  Basins  of  the  Mississippi,  St.  Lawrence,  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  Mackenzie,  the  amphitheatre  of  the  world — here  is 
supremely,  indeed,  the  most  magnificent  dwelling-place  marked 
out  by  God  for  man's  abode. 

Behold,  then,  rising  now  and  in  the  future,  the  empire  which 
industry  and  self-government  create.     The  growth  of  half  a  cen- 


! 

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120 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


;'i);i 


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■:  ^ 


tury,  hewed  out  of  tlio  wilderness — its  weapons,  the  axe  and 
plow  J  its  tacties,  labor  and  energy ;  its  soldiers,  free  and  equal 
citizens.  Behold  the  oracular  goal  to  which  our  eagles  march, 
and  whither  the  phalanx  of  our  States  and  people  moves  harmo- 
niously on,  to  plant  a  hundred  States  and  consummate  their  civic 
greatness. 


CHAPTER  X. 


PASTORAL   REGION. 


There  is  a  radical  misapprehension  in  the  popular  mind  as  to 
the  true  character  of  the  "  Great  Plains  of  America,"  as  com- 
plete as  that  which  pervaded  Europe  respecting  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  during  the  whole  historic  period  prior  to  Columbus. 
These  Plains  are  not  deserts,  but  the  opposite,  and  are  the 
cardinal  basis  of  the  future  empire  of  commerce  and  industry 
now  erecting  itself  upon  the  North  American  Continent.  They 
are  calcareous,  and  form  the  Pasto  lAL  Garden  of  the  world. 
Their  position  and  area  may  be  easily  understood.  The  meridian 
line  which  terminates  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri, 
and  Iowa  on  the  west,  forms  their  eastern  limit,  and  the  Rocky 
Mountain  crest  their  western  limit.  Between  these  limits  they 
occupy  a  longitudinal  parallelogram  of  less  than  1000  miles  in 
width,  extending  from  the  Texan  to  the  Arctic  coast. 

There  is  no  timber  upon  them,  and  single  trees  are  scarce. 
They  have  a  gentle  slope  from  the  west  to  the  east,  and  abound 
in  rivers.  They  are  clad  thick  with  nutritious  grasses,  and 
swarm  with  animal  life.     The  soil  is  not  silicious  or  sandy,  but  is 


PASTORAL  REGION. 


121 


a  fine  calcareous  mould.  They  run  smoothly  out  to  the  navigublo 
rivers,  tlio  3Iissouri,  Missi.ssippi,  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  to  tlio 
Texan  coast.  The  mountain  masses  towards  the  Pucifio  form  no 
serious  barrier  between  them  and  that  ocean.  No  portion  of  their 
whole  sweep  of  surface  is  more  than  1000  miles  from  the  best 
navigation.  The  prospect  is  everywhere  gently  undulating  and 
graceful,  being  bounded,  as  on  the  ocean,  by  the  horizon. 
Storms  arc  rare,  except  during  the  melting  of  the  snows  upon  the 
crest  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  climate  is  comparatively 
rainless;  the  rivers  serve,  like  the  Nile,  to  irrigate  rather  than 
drain  the  neighboring  surface,  and  have  few  affluents.  They  all 
run  from  west  to  er  .st,  having  beds  shallow  and  broad,  and  the 
basins  through  which  tliey  flow  are  flat,  long,  and  narrow.  The 
area  of  the  "  Great  Plains"  is  equivalent  to  the  surface  of  the 
twenty-four  States  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic  Sea, 
but  they  are  one  homogeneous  formation,  smooth,  uniform,  and 
continuous,  without  a  single  abiiipt  mountain,  timbered  space, 
desert,  or  lake.  From  their  ample  dimensions  and  position  they 
define  themselves  to  be  the  imsturc-ficJds  of  the  world.  Upon 
them  PASTORAL  agriculture  will  become  a  separate  grand 
department  of  national  industry 

The  pastoral  characteristic,  being  novel  to  our  people,  needs  a 
minute  explanation.  In  traversing  the  continent  from  the 
Atlantic  Beach  to  the  South  Pass,  the  point  of  greatest  altitude 
and  remoteness  from  the  sea,  we  cross  successively  the  timbered 
region,  the  prairie  region  of  soft  soil  and  long  annual  grasses, 
and  finally  the  Great  Plains.  The  two  first  are  irrigated  by  the 
rains  coming  from  the  sea,  and  are  arable.  The  last  is  rainless, 
of  a  compact  sojil,  resisting  the  plow,  and  xa,  therefore,  j^nstoral. 
The  herbage  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  climate  and  the  dryness 
of  the  soil  and  atmosphere,  and  is  perennial.  It  is  edible  and 
nutritious   throughout   the  year.     This   is  the    "gramma"  or 


'  <1 


i 

I- 
I 


12: 


THE  CENTllAL  GOLD   IlEGION. 


"buffalo  grass."  It  covers  the  ground  ouc  inch  in  height,  has 
the  appearance  of  a  delicate  moss,  and  its  leaf  has  the  fiiieiiesa 
and  spiral  texture  of  a  uegru's  hair.  During  the  melting  of  the 
snows  in  the  immcn.se  mountain  masses  at  the  back  of  tlio  Great 
Plains,  the  rivers  swell  like  the  Nile,  and  yield  a  copious  evapo- 
ration in  their  long  sinuous  courses  across  the  Plains  :  storm 
clouds  gather  on  the  summits,  roll  down  the  mountain  flanks,  and 
discharge  themselves  in  vernal  showers.  During  this  temporary 
prevalence  of  moist  atmosphere  these  delicate  grasses  grow,  seed 
in  the  root,  and  arc  cured  into  hai/  upon  the  (/round  by  the  gra- 
dually returning  drouth.  It  is  in  this  longitudinal  belt  of  peren- 
•uial  pasture  upon  which  the  buffalo  finds  his  winter  food,  dwell- 
ing upon  it  without  regard  to  latitude,  and  here  are  the  infinite 
herds  of  aborijinal  cattle  peculiar  to  North  America — buffalo, 
wild  horses,  elk,  antelope,  white  and  black-tailed  deer,  mountain 
sheep,  the  grisly  bear,  wolves,  the  hare,  badger,  porcupine  and 
smaller  animals  innumerable.     The  aggregate  number  is 

cattle,  by  ciJculation  from  sound  data,  exceeds  one  hundrcu  mil- 
lion. No  annual  fires  ever  sweep  over  the  Great  Plains ;  these 
are  confined  to  the  Prairie  region. 

The  Great  Plains  also  swarm  with  poultry — the  turkey,  the 
mountain  cock,  the  prairie  cock,  the  sand-hill  crane,  the  curlew; 
water-fowl  of  every  variety,  the  swan,  goose,  brant,  ducks ;  mar- 
mots, the  armadillo,  the  pccary,  reptiles,  the  horned  frog;  birds 
of  prey,  eagles,  vultures,  the  raven,  and  the  small  birds  of  game 
and  song.  The  streams  abound  in  fish.  Dogs  and  dcmi-wolves 
abound.  The  immense  population  of  nomadic  Indians,  lately  a 
million  in  number,  have,  from  immemorial  antiquity,  subsisted 
exclusively  upon  these  aboriginal  herds,  being  unacquainted  with 
any  kind  of  agriculture  or  the  habitual  use  of  vegetable  food  or 
fruits.  From  this  source  the  Indian  draws  exclusively  his  food, 
his  lodge,  his  fuel,  harness,  clothing,  bed,  his  ornaments,  weapous, 


T 


PASTORAL   REOION. 


123 


and  utensils.  Hero  is  his  solo  dependence  from  the  boginninj^  to 
the  end  of  his  existence.  The  iiinumcniblc  carnivorous  animals 
also  subsist  upon  them.  The  buffalo  alone  have  appeared  to  uio 
as  numerous  as  the  American  people,  and  to  inhabit  as  uniformly 
as  largo  a  space  of  country.  The  buffalo  robe  at  once  suggests 
his  adaptability  to  a  winter  climate. 

The  Great  Plains  embrace  a  very  ample  proportion  of  arable 
soil  for  farms.  The  "  bottoms"  of  the  rivers  aro  very  broad  and 
level,  having  only  a  few  inches  of  elevation  above  the  waters, 
which  descond  by  a  rapid  and  even  current.  They  may  be 
easily  and  cheaply  saturated  by  all  the  various  systems  of  artifi- 
cial irrigation,  azeouieas,  artesian  wells,  or  flooding  by  machinery. 
Under  this  treatment  the  soils,  being  alluvial  and  calcareous, 
both  from  the  sulphate  and  carbonate  formations,  return  a  pro- 
digious yield,  and  are  independent  of  the  seasons.  Every 
variety  of  grain,  grass,  v-  gctable,  the  grape  and  fruits,  flax, 
hemp,  cotton,  and  the  flora,  under  a  perpetual  sun,  and  irrigated 
at  the  root,  attain  extraordinary  vigor,  flavor,  and  beauty. 

The  Great  Plains  abound  in  fuel,  and  the  materials  for  dwell- 
ings and  fencing.  Bituminous  coal  is  everywhere  interstratified 
with  the  calcareous  and  sandstone  formation ;  it  is  also  abundant 
in  the  flanks  of  the  mountains,  and  is  everywhere  conveniently 
accessible.  The  dung  of  the  buffalo  is  scattorod  everywhere. 
The  order  of  vegetable  growth  being  reversed  by  the  aridity  of 
the  atmosphere,  what  show  above  as  the  merest  bushes,  radiate 
themselves  deep  into  the  earth,  and  form  below  an  immense 
arborescent  growth.  Fuel  of  wood  is  found  by  digging.  Plaster 
and  lime,  limestone,  freestone,  clay,  and  sand,  exist  beneath 
almost  every  acre.  The  large  and  economical  adobe  brick, 
hardened  in  the  sun  and  without  fire,  supersedes  other  materials 
for  walls  and  fences  in  this  dry  atmosphere,  and,  as  in  Syria  and 
Egypt,  resists  decay  for  centuries.  The  dwellings  thus  con- 
11 


M 


li 


■'A  i 


124 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGIOX. 


structed  are  most  healthy,  being  impervious  to  heat,  cold,  damp, 
and  wind. 

The  climate  of  the  Great  Plains  is  favorable  to  health,  longe- 
vity, intellectual  and  physical  development,  and  stimulative  of  an 
exalted  tone  of  social  civilization  and  n^finement.  The  American 
people  and  their  ancestral  European  people  having  dwelt  for 
many  thousand  years  exclusively  in  countries  of  timber  and 
within  the  region  of  the  maritime  atmosphere;  where  winter 
annihilates  all  vegetation  annually  for  half  the  year;  where  all 
animal  food  must  be  sustained,  fed,  and  fattened  by  tillage  with 
the  plow;  where  the  essential  necessities  of  existence,  food, 
ciothiug,  fuel,  and  dwellings,  are  secured  only  by  constant  and 
intcisc  manual  toil;  why,  to  this  people  heretofore,  the  immense 
empire  of  pastoral  agriculture,  at  the  threshold  of  which  we 
have  arrived,  has  been  as  completely  a  blank,  as  was  the  present 
condition  of  social  development  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the 
American  Continent  to  the  ordinary  thoughts  of  the  antique 
Greeks  and  Romans  !  Hence  this  immense  world  of  plains  and 
mountains,  occupying  three-fifths  of  our  continent,  so  novel  to 
them  and  so  exactly  contradictory  in  every  feature  to  the  existing 
prejudices,  routine,  and  economy  of  society,  is  unanimously  pro- 
nounced an  uninhabitable  desert.  To  any  reversal  of  sucli  a 
judgment,  the  unanimous  public  opinion,  the  rich  and  poor,  the 
wise  and  ignorant,  the  famous  and  obscure,  agree  to  oppose 
unanimously  a  dogmatic  and  universal  deafness.  To  them,  the 
delineations  of  trwcllers,  elsewhere  intelligent,  are  here  tinged 
with  lunacy ;  the  science  of  geography  is  befogged ;  the  sublime 
order  of  Creation  no  longer  holds,  and  the  supreme  engineering 
of  God  is  at  fault  and  a  chaos  of  blunders  ! 

The  I*ASTORAL  Region  is  longitudinal.  The  bulk  of  it  is 
under  the  Temperate  Zone,  out  of  which  it  runs  into  the  Arctic 
Zone  on  the  north,  and  into  the  Tropical  Zone  ou  the  south. 


PASTORAL  REGION. 


125 


The  parallel  Atlantic  arable  and  commercial  region  flanks  it  on 
the  east ;  that  of  the  Pacific  on  the  west.  The  Great  Plains, 
then,  at  once  separate  and  bind  together  these  flanks,  rounding 
out  both  the  variety  and  compactness  of  arrangement  in  the  ele- 
mentary details  of  society,  which  enables  a  continent  to  govern 
itself  with  the  same  ease  as  a  single  city. 

Assuming,  then,  that  the  advancing  column  of  progress  having 
reached  and  established  itself  in  force  all  along  the  eastern  front 
of  the  Great  Plains,  from  Louisiana  to  Minnesota ;  having,  also, 
jumped  over  and  flanked  them  to  occupy  California  and  Oregon ; 
assuming  th'ai  Ihis  column  is  about  to  debouch  upon  them  to  the 
front  and  occupy  them  with  the  embodied  impulse  of  our  thirty 
millions  of  population,  heretofore  scattered  upon  the  flanks,  but 
now  conveiging  into  phalanx  upon  the  centre :  some  reflections, 
legitimately  made,  may  cheer  the  timid,  and  confirm  those  who 
hesitate  from  old  opinion  and  the  prejudices  of  adverse  education. 

It  is  well  established  that  six-tenths  of  the  food  of  the  human 
family  is,  or  ought  to  be,  animal  food,  the  result  of  pastoral 
agriculture.  The  cattle  of  the  world  consume  eight  times  the 
food  per  head,  as  compared  with  the  human  family.  3Ieat,  milk, 
butter,  cheese,  poultry,  eggs,  wool,  leatl'er,  honey,  are  the  pro- 
ductions of  pastoral  agriculture.  Fish  is  the  spontaneous  pro- 
duction of  the  water.  Nine-tenths  of  the  labor  of  arable  culture 
is  expended  to  produce  the  grain  and  grasses  that  sustain  the 
present  supplies  to  the  world  of  the  above  enumerated  articles  of 
the  pastoral  order.  If,  then,  a  country  can  be  found  where  pas- 
toral produce  is  spontaneously  sustained  by  nature,  as  fish  in  the 
ocean,  it  is  manifest  that  arable  labor,  being  reduced  to  the  pro- 
duction of  broad  food  only,  may  condcur  •  itbclf  to  a  very  small 
per  centage  of  its  present  volume,  and  the  cultivated  ground  be 
greatly  reduced  in  acres. 


■!'J.° 


k       4 


126 


THE   CENi'RAL   GOLD   REGION. 


At  present  the  pastoral  culture  of  the  American  people  results 
exclusively  from  the  plow,  and  this  is  its  amount : 


Cattlo  of  all  kinds 
Horses  and  mules 
Sheep 
Swine 
Value 


18,378,907 

4,890,050 

21,722,220 

30,334,213 


$055,883,058 


It  is  probable  that  the  aggregate  ahorijinal  stock  of  the  Great 
Plains  still  exceeds  in  amount  the  above  table.  It  is  all  sponta- 
neously supported  by  nature,  as  is  the  fish  of  the  sea.  Every 
kind  of  our  domestic  animals  flourishes  upon  the  Great  Plains 
equally  well  with  the  wild  ones.  Three  tame  animals  may  be 
substituted  for  every  wild  one,  and  vast  territories  re-occupied, 
from  which  the  wild  stock  has  been  exterminated  by  indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter  and  the  increase  of  the  wolves. 

The  American  people  are  about,  then,  to  inaugurate  a  new 
and  immense  order  of  industrial  production :  Pastoral  Agri- 
culture.— Its  fields  will  be  the  Great  Plains  intermediate 
between  the  oceans.  Once  commenced,  it  will  develop  very 
rapidly.  We  trace  in  their  history  the  successive  inauguration 
and  systematic  growth  of  several  of  these  distinct  orders :  The 
tobacco  culture,  the  rice  culture,  the  cotton  culture,  the  immense 
provision  culture  of  cereals  and  meats,  leather  and  wool,  the  gold 
culture,  navigation  external  and  internal,  commerce  external  and 
internal,  transportation  by  land  and  water,  the  hemp  culture,  the 
fisheries,  manufactures. 

Each  of  these  has  arisen  as  time  has  ripened  the  necessity  for 
each,  and  noiselessly  taken  and  filled  its  appropriate  place  in  the 
general  economy  of  our  industrial  empire. 

This  pastoral  property  transports  itself  on  the  hoof,  and  finds 
its  food  ready  furnished  by  nature.  In  these  elevated  countries 
fresh  meats  become  the  preferable  food  for  man,  to  the  exclusioa 


1 


PASTORAL  RLGION. 


127 


of  bread,  vegetables,  and  salted  articles.  The  atmosphere  of  the 
Great  Plains  is  perpetually  brilliant  with  sunshine,  tonic,  healthy 
and  inspiring  to  the  temper.  It  corresponds  with  and  surpasses 
the  historic  climate  of  Syria  and  Arabia,  from  whence  we  inherit 
all  that  is  ethereal  and  refined  in  our  system  of  civilization,  our 
religion,  our  sciences,  our  alphabet,  our  numerals,  our  written 
languages,  our  articles  of  food,  our  learning,  and  our  system  of 
social  manners. 

As  the  site  for  the  great  central  city  of  the  "  Basin  of  the 
Mississippi"  to  arise  prospectively  upon  the  developments  now 
maturing,  this  city*  has  the  start,  the  geographical  position,  and 
the  existing  elements  with  which  any  rival  will  contend  in  vain. 
It  is  the  focal  point  where  three  developments,  now  near  ripeness, 
mW&ndthch  river  port.  1.  The  pastoral  development.  2.  The 
gold,  silver,  and  salt  production  of  the  Sierra  San  Juan.  3.  The 
continental  railroad  from  the  Pacific.  These  great  fields  of  enter- 
prise will  all  be  recognised  and  understood  by  the  popular  mind 
within  the  coming  six  years,  and  will  be  under  vigorous  headway 
in  ten.  There  must  be  a  great  city  here,  such  us  antiquity  built 
at  the  head  of  the  Mediterranean  and  named  Jerusalem,  lyre, 
Alexandria,  and  Constantinople  j  such  .ur  own  people  name 
New  York,  New  Orleans,  San  Francisco,  St   Louis. 


m 


■:•.  t 


f  i] 


*  Kansas  City,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas. 


11* 


mi 


tav. 


mi  V 


I 


128 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

EX'^ENT  AND  CHAHACTERISTICS  OP  THE  HEMP-GROWING 
REGION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

There  is  a  region  of  Missouri  and  Kansas  of  rapidly  rising 
fame  and  importance,  gaining  for  itself  a  State  and  a  National 
reputation,  which  we  will  define  as  the  "  Region  of  the  Hemp 
Culture."  Specially  Aivored  by  nature  in  its  geographical 
locality,  climate,  navigation,  and  superlative  fertility,  this  region 
has  become  the  seat  of  a  hemp  culture  which  has  a  strong, 
organized,  and  national  foundation.  The  hemp  culture  receives 
special  attention  in  twenty  counties  bisected  by  the  Missouri 
river,  and  all  adjacent  to  its  two  shores.  They  form  a  belt  of 
land  east  and  west,  enclosed  between  the  thirty-eighth  and 
fortieth  degrees  of  latitude.  Here  is  the  production  of  these 
:ou"ities  in  hemp,  flax,  and  tobacco,  in  order  as  they  lie  along 
the  river — census  of  1850  : 

Ilcmp,  tons. 

Jackson     ....  3G1 

Lafayette  ....  2,4G2 

Saline        ....  1,559 

Cooper       ....  39 

Moniteau  .         .         .         .  11 

Cole           ....  11 

Cass          ....  1 

Johnson    ....  65 

Pettis         ....  52 

Miller        ....  3 

Platte        .        .        .        .  4,355 

Clay           ....  1,288 

Ray           ....  431 


Flax,  lbs. 

Tobacco,  iba 

1,443 

38,920 

6,807 

75,035 

IGO 

287,533 

9,835 

137,800 

7,621 

39,550 

6,129 

43,150 

i:,048 

5,353 

7.070 

900 

2,784 

1,300 

5,600 

12,900 

420 

66,000 

88,197 

20,060 

6,802 

516.906 

HEMP-GROWINO  REGION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.       129 


Carroll 

300 

1,779 

289,869 

Charlton    . 

170 

3,213 

2,607,908 

Howard 

904 

1G,948 

3,188,122 

Boone 

51 

20,695 

584,949 

Clinton 

193 

5,376 

6,850 

Randolph 

23 

17,368 

2,202,796 

Buchanan 

,      1,894 

620 

7,850 

14,173  tons,  or  28,340,000  pounds. 


T 


ill 


Since  1850,  the  hemp  culture  has  doubicd  in  vigor,  boJi  in  the 
land  assigned  to  its  culture  and  in  the  application  of  machinery 
to  its  production  and  manufacture.  The  production  of  that  year, 
within  the  above  region,  was  28,346,000  pounds,  estimating  the 
ton  at  2000  pounds ;  and  that  of  the  whole  State  16,119  tons,  or 
32,238,000  pounds. 

The  course  of  the  Missouri  river  through  this  region  of  super- 
lative fertility  may  be  compared  to  the  l^ile  flowing  through 
lower  Egypt  to  the  Mediterranean.  It  is  in  the  ability  of  au 
abundant  and  bounteous  production  that  this  comparison  holds, 
but  not  in  temperature,  climate,  or  physical  features.  In  Egypt, 
the  arable  and  inhabitable  district  is  limited  to  the  ravine  of  the 
Nile,  which  is  overflowed  and  irrigated  by  its  waters ;  beyond 
this  the  primeval  deser£  reigns  everywhere  supreme.  With  us, 
the  same  fertility  characterizes  the  borders  of  the  stream,  which 
has  the  same  abundance  of  fertilizing  waters,  the  same  splendid 
navigation,  the  same  solemnity  in  its  ever-flowing  channel,  and 
the  same  redundancy  of  benignant  attributes  which  have  deified 
the  Nile.  But,  on  every  side,  from  the  gently  elevated  crest 
that  bounds  the  ravine  of  the  Missouri,  expands,  with  a  radius 
of  1000  miles,  that  variegated,  calcareous  plain,  which  we  define 
as  the  "  Uasin  of  the  Jlississippi."  This  undulating  plain  has 
an  area  equal  in  capacity  to  all  the  other  river  basins  of  the 
world,  and  combines  all  their  varieties.     So  much  does  the  mind 


I 


..    .    'll'll 


it     ;i; 


m      *:'l: 


ml 

if 


/!' 


A! 


130 


THE   TENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


revert  to  the  ocean  to  explain  by  comparison  its  exquisite 
romantic  beauty,  at  once  immense  and  regular,  that  this  hymn  to 
the  sea  may  with  propriety  describe  it : 

"  Thou  glorious  mirror,  where  the  Almighty's  form 

Glasses  itself  in  tempests  ;  in  all  time 
Calm  ov  convulsed — in  breeze,  or  gale,  or  storm. 

Dark  heaving ; — boundless,  endless,  and  sublime — 
The  image  of  eternity — the  throne 
Of  the    Invisible—*     *    *    each  zone 
Obeys  thee ;  thou  goest  forth,  dread,  fathomless,  alone  !" 

The  current  course  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  rivers  is 
from  north  to  south.  The  latter  is  so  through  its  whole  length. 
The  Missouri,  after  a  southern  course  of  3000  miles,  receives  the 
Kansas  river  in  latitude  39°,  turns  abruptly  to  the  cast,  penetrates 
the  State  of  Missouri,  and  bisects  it  from  west  to  cast,  with  a 
channel  400  miles  in  length.  Into  the  eastern  mouth  of  this 
channel  all  the  great  natural  lines  of  travel  coming  from  the 
Atlantic  by  the  St.  Lawrence,  Ohio,  and  South  Mississippi  rivers 
concentrate  as  rays  to  a  focal  point.  They  are  altogether  carried 
forward  to  the  central  west  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas,  where 
the  unbroken  prairie  formation  meets  the  river,  and  to  which  the 
radiant  land  routcb  over  their  expanse,  coming  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  similarly  concentrate.  This 
channel  is  now,  and  is  destined  prospectively  to  remain, 
the  most  thronged  and  wonderful  in  the  world.  It  is  central, 
east  and  wast,  to  the  American  Continent,  to  the  Basin  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  to  the  American  Union ;  it  lies  along  the  axis 
of  that  isothermal  temperate  zone,  within  which  is  the  zodiac  of 
nations,  and  is  also  the  axis  of  the  population,  progress,  travel, 
production,  consumption,  commerce,  transportation,  and  habita- 
tion of  the  human  race.  It  is  the  highway  from  Western 
Europe  to  Oriental  Asia.     It  is  under  that  line  of  latitude  where 


u 


HEMP-GROWINQ  REGION   OP  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


131 


all  things  northern  and  southern  meet  and  blend  together — 
where  the  day  and  night,  the  seasons  of  the  year,  labor,  the 
growth  of  nature,  and  all  the  elements  of  human  society  and  of 
the  vegetable  and  animal  world,  have  the  wid'  t  range,  the 
greatest  variety,  and  the  highest  developraeut.  Having  a  double 
shore,  this  channel  has  800  miles  of  coast.  It  has  the  familiar 
accommodation  and  safety  of  a  canal,  a  railroad,  or  a  street.  Its 
depth  of  water  and  capacity  for  commerce  will  receive  and  carry 
forward  the  freightage  of  all  the  oceans  and  all  the  continents. 
Similar  channels  have  been  known  and  used  in  both  ancient  and 
modern  times — such  are  the  Lower  Nile,  the  Bosphorus  and  Dar- 
danelles, the  Strait  of  Hercules,  the  English  Channel,  the  Baltic's 
mouth,  the  Hudson  from  New  York  to  Albany — only  this  has 
greater  length,  divides  more  fertile  shores,  and  connects  more 
numerous  hosts  of  nations. 

Such  is  the  Hemp  Region.  It  has  an  altitude  1000  feet  above 
the  sea,  a  salubrity  equal  to  the  Table  Lands,  a  fertility  superior 
to  the  Delta  of  Louisiana,  an  unlimited  area,  a  navigation  better 
than  the  sea,  a  climate  exactly  congenial  to  the  white  man,  a 
rural  beauty  for  ever  graceful,  fresh,  and  fascinating.  It  is,  on 
a  vastly  magnified  scale,  the  counterpart  of  that  delicious  and 
classic  Italy,  traversed  by  the  Po,  dotted  with  cities,  Venice, 
Verona,  Mantua,  Milan,  of  which  Siiakspeahe  has  written, 
and  where  Virgil  and  Tasso  sung.  If  an  ellipse  be  described 
extending  from  the  Osage  mouth  to  Fort  Riley,  some  500  miles, 
and  in  breadth  300,  it  will  contain  that  district  of  fat,  lustrous 
soil,  exuberant  vegetation,  graceful  beauty,  and  abundant  streams, 
where  naiiure  has  bountifully  blended  all  her  choicest  gifts  to 
locate  the  rural  quintessence  of  America  and  of  the  world  ! 

Stimalated  by  the  inspiring  splendor  of  their  natural  position, 
the  vigorous  population  of  this  region  have  pursued  agriculture, 
commerce,  and  manufactures  with  an  ambition  and  success  which 


<  1 


i  . 


132 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


1:5    n, 


indicate  a  j^rowing  empire  ia  nothing  unworthy  of  their  pros- 
pective destiny.  Every  department  of  production  and  industry 
haa  been  tried,  and  all  thrive.  Hemp,  tobacco,  flax,  the  grape 
and  wine,  silk,  sugar,  the  cereals  and  grasses ;  cattle  of  the  first 
breeds ;  agricultural  machinery,  flowers,  steam,  and  mining. 
Society  exalts  its  tone  by  a  taste  for  religious  edifices  and  elo- 
quence ;  education  receives  great  and  universal  care ;  music  and 
refinement  are  zealously  cultivated. 

Apart  from  these  fascinating  gifts  of  nature  and  the  promise 
which  germinates  beneath  their  warmth,  a  prestige  entwines 
itself  with  and  illuminates  the  history  of  this  region.  This  runs 
back  to  the  golden  time  of  the  patriarchal  founders  of  our  con- 
tinental empire  j  it  stretches  over  the  dark  chasm  of  seaboard 
monarchy,  and  has  its  fountain  in  the  luminous  Aurora  and 
among  the  immortal  patriots  who  limned  out  the  profile  of  our 
continental  empire,  and  inaugurated  the  march  of  our  destinies. 
We  have  here  amongst  us  the  graves  of  Daniel  Boone,  George 
Rogers  Clarke,  Laclede,  and  the  names  of  John  Jacob 
AsTOR,  Louis  XVI.,  of  France,  Lasalle,  and  De  Soto,  great 
and  intrepid  men  who  led  or  befriended  the  pioneers,  those  stars 
which  shone  in  the  first  twilight  of  empire.  To  Jefferson  and 
Jackson  we  were  known,  and  they  have  been  known  to  us  as 
our  friends. 

To  understand  this  prestige  and  its  strength,  it  is  necessary 
briefly  to  select  out  and  set  apart  to  themselves  a  few  facts  in  the 
history  of  progress  which  stand  along  its  path,  and,  like  pyramids 
in  the  solitude,  fix  its  remarkable  epochs. 

This  system  of  civilized  society,  of  which  we  Americans  form 
a  part,  is  very  ancient  and  is  inherited.  History  is  the  journal 
of  its  geographical  progress,  its  vicissitudes,  its  struggles,  and  its 
energies.  Where  society  has  assumed  its  largest  form  and 
attained  the  highest  level  of  civilization  and  longest  endurance. 


HEMP-GROWING  REG  TON  OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 


133 


it  is  defined  to  be  an  empirt.  History  chiefly  occupies  itself  with 
the  biography  of  these  enipires,  their  rise,  culmination,  and  deca- 
dence. They  have  appeared,  lived,  and  departed,  like  generations 
of  men.  They  lie  along  a  serpentine  zone  of  the  north  hemi- 
sphere of  the  globe,  within  an  isothermal  belt,  and  form  a  zodiac 
thirty-five  degrees  in  width.  The  axis  of  this  zodiac  alternates 
above  and  below  the  -lOth  degree  of  latitude,  as  the  neighborhood 
or  remoteness  of  the  oceans  modifies  the  climates  of  the  continents. 
These  empires  are  the  Chinese,  the  Indian,  the  Persian,  the 
Grecian,  the  Roman,  the  Spanish,  the  British,  and,  last,  the  Re- 
publican Empire  of  North  America.  These  are  the  essential 
ones  in  the  regular  order  of  time  and  upon  the  hereditary  line  of 
progress.  It  is  here  that  the  mass  of  land  is  the  greatest,  and 
where  the  continents  most  nearly  approach  one  another.  This 
zodiac  of  nations  contains  nine -tenths  of  the  white  population  of 
the  globe,  and  all  its  civilization.  The  territory  of  the  American 
people,  extending  across  this  continent,  exactly  fills  this  isother- 
mal zone  from  edge  to  edge,  occupying  the  whole  connecting 
space  between  Western  Europe  and  Oriental  Asia.  It  is  on 
these  two  fronts  of  the  old  continents  that  the  two  halves  of  the 
human  race  are  separately  congregated,  both  fronting  America 
and  fronting  one  another,  face  to  face,  across  America.  The 
straight  line  of  intercourse  between  them,  only  10,000  miles  in 
length,  pursues  the  axis  of  the  isothermal  zone,  out  of  which  it 
never  deflects  either  into  the  torrid  heats  or  the  frozen  north. 
Here,  then,  is  the  tenacious,  the  divine  instinct  of  progress  and 
liberty,  which  fired  the  soul  of  Columbus,  of  Washington,  of 
Jefferson,  and  of  Jackson.  In  this  faith  they  lived;  this 
faith  they  vindicated  and  never  betrayed ;  and  in  this  faith  they 
died,  to  inherit  among  posterity  a  supreme,  untainted  immortality. 
This  faith  forms  the  inspiration  of  the  Declaration  of  1770, 
animated  the  patriarchal  generation,  and  was  renewed  and  codified 


h  ? 


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134 


TUE  CKNTRAT.   OOLD  REGION. 


in  the  Constitution  of  '87.  It  selected  Jefferson  in  1798  and 
Jackson  in  1828.  Its  caglo.s  arc  now  erected  among  the 
pioneers  out  in  the  wilderness,  in  Kansas,  in  Utah,  and  in 
Oregon.  Upon  them  are  embossed  the  ancient  rights  of  man, 
the  continental  union,  the  continental  railroad,  the  continental 
cause ! 

During  the  administration  of  Jefferson,  central  extension, 
pursuing  the  isothermal  line  through  the  continent,  was  prose- 
cuted with  great  vigor  as  the  favorite  policy  of  the  Government. 
Lewis  and  Cl.\rke  rcconnoitcred  and  made  known  the  character 
of  the  rivers,  the  mountains,  and  the  connections  of  the  basins  of 
the  Mississippi  and  Columbia  by  direct  passes.  John  Jacob 
AsTOR  planted  trading  colonies  and  paths  through  the  wilderness, 
and  upon  the  bank  of  the  other  sea  opposite  to  China.  The 
rapid  creation  of  the  States  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
and  Missouri,  carried  forward  the  Union  in  a  salient  column,  em- 
bracing the  water-line  of  the  great  rivers  and  reaching  here  to 
the  geographical  centre  in  1820  !  Up  to  that  date  the  flanks 
had  remained  stationary  in  New  York  and  Georgia.  The  design 
then  was  to  go  through  with  the  parallelogram  of  central  States 
from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  this  base  to  advance  outward,  planting 
States  simultaneously  towards  the  south  and  towards  the  north. 
This  policy  was  crippled  during  the  time  of  Mr.  Madison  by  the 
vicissitudes  of  foreign  war.  '  It  was  abandoned  and  loversed  by 
Messrs.  Monroe  and  Adams.  In  their  time  grc  v  up  the 
political  divisicJns  of  North  and  South,  and  a  maritime  policy 
inaugurated  itself.  Since  that  date,  central  progress  has  abruptly 
stopped,  and  great  activity  upon  the  flanks  has  brought  them  up 
to  an  even  front  iu  Iowa,  and  a  greatly  advanced  position  in 
Texas.  The  central  force  has,  however,  Jumped  the  continent 
straight  to  the  front,   occupied    the  sea-coasts  of  Oregon  and 


5! 


IIEMP-GROWINO    REGION    OP   THE    UNITED    STATES.       135 


ii 


California,  and  fuundcd  the  new  maritime  power  upon  the  Pacific 
and  opposite  to  Asia. 

Since  the  selection  of  the  site  of  the  city  of  Indopondoncc  in 
1824  to  1854,  a  chasm  in  time  of  thirty  years, , central  ixtnision 
has  rested  as  stagnant  as  though  our  great  river  had  been  frozoi. 
at  this  point  into  solid  and  perpetual  ice.  Tt  has  been  stopped 
by  an  artificial  cordon  of  Indian  tribes  and  federal  law  as  effectu- 
ally as  by  a  continuous  wall  of  brass  extending  from  Louisiana  to 
the  49th  degroo,  and  rising  in  altitude  from  the  prairie  founda- 
tion to  the  clouds.  Ilcnce  is  seen  the  unique  and  novel  sight  of 
a  great  continental  empire,  formed  of  a  circular  shell  of  States 
traced  round  the  circumferent  seaboard,  and  surrounding  a  hollow 
and  vacant  disk  of  desert  continent.  Such  is  at  present  the 
theoretical  principles  upon  which  maritime  policy  legislates  for 
the  great  region  of  our  country  connecting  the  States  of  Missouri 
and  California  straight  across.  The  antagonistic  struggle  ia 
between  the  instinct  of  progress  plowing  out  its  highway  through 
the  continent,  along  the  isothermal  axis  hi/  luml,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  external  shell  of  maritime 
power  to  hold  the  continent  in  a  maritime  hoop,  and  subjc.,i  its 
industrial  greatness  to  a  permanent  supremacy. 

In  the  great  city  of  New  York  the  active  instinct  of  progress 
has  always  had  a  working  vitality.  Like  Rome,  she  has  pursued 
an  elastic  policy,  and  has  planted  her  commercial  colonics  at  the 
right  time,  and  in  the  right  spots.  These  colonies,  of  the  first 
class,  are  New  Orleans,  Chicago,  and  San  Francisco.  "With  all 
of  these  she  maintains  or  needs  direct  connections  by  steamers, 
railroads,  and  telegraphs,  as  also  with  Europe  in  the  rear.  The 
time  is  rife  for  another  selection,  which  offers  itself  in  the  centre 
of  the  Mississippi  Basin  !  A  key-point  of  centrality  and  radiance, 
and  of  unrivalled  excellence.  This  is  Independence,  the  metro- 
polis of  the  Hemp  Region. 
12 


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II 1 

H. 

l;}G 


THE   CENTRAL  OOLD   UEOIOW. 


This  young  and  vigorous  city,  crowning  the  southern  bank  of 
tho  IMissouri  river  iit  (ho  point  of  the  anglo  where  it  deflocta  to 
the  north,  bcetlea  over  the  avenues  to  tho  priiirics  of  tho  south 
and  west,  like  Gibraltar  at  the  Strait  of  Hercules.  It  covers  tho 
rear  of  St,  Luuis,  and  conflnes  her  to  the  narrow  field  of  tho 
State  of  Arkansas.  Uy  the  through  railroad,  'loniing  by  way  of 
Chicago  and  Keokuk,  crossing  the  IMLssouri  river  at  l>rur!<!wick, 
and  ascending  the  south  bank,  an  air-lino  road  exists  of  only  fifty 
hours  time  hence  to  New  York  city.  Tho  river  line  of  tho  Mis- 
souri, Illinois,  and  St.  Lawrence  deflects  but  little  from  an  equal 
straightucss  and  a  similar  distance  in  miles.  Ilailroads  passing 
onwards  to  Galveston  into  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, Utah,  and  Astoria,  will  be  the  sho'Lust  lines  from  New 
York  city  to  all  those  extremities  and  various  regions  of  our  con- 
tinent, irerc  will  bo  found  the  shortest  diagonal  line  wherewith 
to  bisect  the  productive  territory  and  population  of  the  Uuioa 
towards  the  smtth-iccsf,  through  the  grain,  hemp,  and  pastoral 
regions,  to  the  sugar  of  Texas  and  the  gold  and  silver  of  Mexico. 
It  is  shorter  to  Galveston  than  any  route  traversing  the  maritime 
Atlantic  States  and  bending  with  tho  sea-coast.  It  traverses  a 
line  of  the  greatest  variety  of  production  and  largest  distribution 
of  groceries,  dry  goods,  and  manufactured  metals.  This  hemp 
region  is  not  more  celebrated  for  hemp  than  it  is  for  tobacco, 
grain,  blooded  cattle,  and  wool,  only  this  former  production  is  not 
shared  with  surrounding  regions,  where  the  latter  engross  exclu- 
sive attention.  The  present  population  of  the  hemp  retjion  is 
202,413 ;  the  assessed  property  $105,449,055. 

Here,  then,  is  an  immense  foundation  vherefrom  to  grasp  and 
control  the  expanding  developments  in  front,  eonserjueut  upon 
the  obliteration  of  the  Indian  barrier,  and  the  bursting  forth  of 
the  pent-up  flood  of  central  progress,  out  over  the  prairies  which 
undulate  to  Texas,  Mexico,  and  the  mountains.     The  front  wave 


IIEMP-anoWINQ   REGION   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES.       l.'iT 


of  tlila  flood-tide  'ia  already  iii  motion ;  its  spray  sprinkles  the 
plains  almost  to  the  mountain  foot.  The  aoliieveniont.s  of  the 
coniinn;  decade  of  years  will  dirt'er  from  its  predecessor.  It  will 
exhibit  a  t^rcater  mass  of  energy,  eonecntrated  in  one  direetit)n, 
occupied  by  a  single  object,  and  moving  with  immense  moans 
over  a  very  shovi  line,  which  is  perfectly  straight  and  open. 
Heretofore  the  active  force  of  progress  has  been  operating  round 
the  rim  of  our  territory,  on  Lake  Superior,  in  California,  in 
Texas,  in  Florida,  in  detached  squadron-s  separated  from  the  base 
of  old  society,  by  the  diameter  of  the  continent,  or  keeping  up  its 
communication  round  the  circumference  by  sea.  The  opening 
decade  beholds  a  concentric  movement,  flooding  into  the  centre, 
and  reducing  all  movements  to  the  shortest  radii !  Its  career 
opens  with  a  general  force  of  30,000,000  of  population,  having 
gold  in  hand,  railroads,  steamers,  rivers  and  prairies  on  their 
banks.  The  difficulties  of  the  wilderness  are  overcome,  tho 
temptation  every  way  increased,  the  means  of  motion  enormously 
accumulated. 

Such  is  the  prosperous  future  which  "shines  over  the  central 
west,  and  fills  the  atmosphoni  to  tho  remotest  horizon.  This 
prospective  view  is  not  too  sanguine,  it  is  not  exaggerated,  it  is 
only  in  moderate  and  appropriate  proportion  to  the  material  long 
accumulating  and  now  beginning  to  stir  with  activity  through  its 
whole  reanimated  bulk.  Sound  health,  complete  preparation, 
fresh  and  mature  vigor,  judgment,  and  a  defined  and  finite  object, 
all  blend  themselves  with  the  immense  and  successful  movement 
which  closes  in  to  occupy  the  centre  of  our  country,  to  reunite 
its  flanks,  and  to  adjust  its  true  and  geographical  balances  for 
ever. 


m 


138 


THE   CENTRAL   GOLD   REGION. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  TAllC  OF  SAN  LUIS;  THE  SIERRA  SAN  JUAN;  THE 
SIERRA  LA  PLATA;  THE  GOLD  FIELDS  OF  THE  "PLATEAU 
OP  NORTH  AMERICA." 


m 


In  October,  1858,  were  pv.blished  my  remarks  upon  the  San 
Juan  JMountain  and  the  surrounding  region  of  the  Plateau. 
This  interesting  region  has  not  as  yet  been  reached  by  the 
pioneers,  but  the  summer  campaign  of  Pike's  Peak  has  been  one 
of  such  wonderful  activity  and  immense  results  towards  develop- 
ing the  central  -lokl  fclds,  that  to  repeat  some  of  the  guide 
notes,  will  freshen  the  scent  and  ease  and  hasten  the  progress  of 
the  coming  season. 

I  have  heretofore  defined  a  supreme  focal  point  of  the  Cordil- 
lera, of  which  Pike's  Peak  is  the  salient  beacon  to  those  who 
travel  up  the  Great  Plains.  The  five  primary  mountain  ranges, 
each  crested  with  perpetual  snow,  which  simultaneously  radiate 
fron  this  focal  point,  are :  the  northern  arm  of  the  Cordillera 
towards  the  north-wes'' ;  the  promontory  of  Pike's  Peak  towards 
the  east ;  the  southern  arm  of  the  Cordillera  towards  tLo  south- 
east-; the  Sierra  IMimbrcs  towards  the  direct  south;  and  the  pro- 
montory cf  the  Elk  Mountain  towards  the  west.  Between  the 
two  first  flows  ouv  t^'C  South  Platte  river,  first  forming  the  Neto 
Pare  within  the  mountain  riass,  and  then  debouching  upon  the 
Great  Plains  to  the  nort'i-cast.  lietwecn  the  second  and  third 
defiles  the  Arkansas  river,  by  a  stupendous  r^anon,  to  the  south- 
east:  Between  the  Southern  Cordillera  and  ilie  Sierra  Mimbres 
is  the  delicious  Pare  of  San  Luis,  through  which  the  Ilio  Grande 
del  Norte  meanders  to  the  south :  Between  the  Sierra  Mimbres 


THE   PARC   OF   SAN   LOUIS,   ETC. 


139 


i 


and  the  Elk  Mountain  defiles  the  Epgle  river  by  an  immense 
and  rugged  caiion  :  Between  the  Elk  Mountain  and  the  Northern 
Cordillera  descend  the  many  streams,  whose  confluent  waters, 
scooping  out  the  great  Middle  Pare,  unite  to  form  the  llio 
Grande  of  the  west,  which,  receiving  lower  down  the  Eagle 
rivers  and  the  Rio  Verde,  becomes  the  Great  Colorado  of  Califor- 
nia. The  two  first-named  rivers  and  the  South  Pare  belong  to 
the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi,  coming  down  the  eastern  flank  of 
the  Cordillera  :  the  three  last-named  rivers  and  their  pares  open 
out  upon  the  Plateau,  having  their  descent  from  the  western 
flank  of  th  ;  Cordillera. 

Such  is  the  wonderfal  array  of  the  primary  formations  of 
nature,  mountain  ranges,  rivers,  pares,  canons,  which  here  con- 
centrate to  a  single  apex,  from  whence  they  are  all  at  once  visible 
within  the  circumference  of  the  same  horizon.  The  salient  pro- 
montory, by  which  Pike's  Peak  is  connected  with  the  Cordillera, 
is  about  100  miles  in  length.  The  point  where  it  plunges  into 
the  Cordillera  is  reached  by  ascending  either  the  Platte  or 
Arkansas  to  the  extreme  source.  The  descent  from  the  crest  of 
the  Cordillera  into  the  Plateau  beyond,  is  accomplished  by  either 
of  the  radiant  streams,  the  Rio  Grande  of  the  West,  the  Eagle 
river,  or  the  Rio  del  Norte. 

The  exploration  and  mining  for  gold  has  been  as  yet  confined 
to  the  mountain  flanks  which  enclose  the  Platte  and  its  pare, 
known  as  the  ''  Bayou  Salado"  or  "  New  Pare,"  and  has  been 
within  the  rim  of  the  Mississippi  Basin.  The  reconnoisances  of 
the  mining  parties  have,  however,  fully  reached  the  crest  of  the 
Cordillera,  and  will  extend  beyond  in  full  force,  so  soon  as  the 
relenting  rigor  of  the  present  winter  shall  admit  of  its  passage. 

Such  is  the  position  of  the  pioneers  at  the  close  of  their  first 

season  of  activity,  which  has  produced  three  and  a  half  million 

dollars  of  pure  gold  upon  the  out-cropping  flanks  of  the  Cordillera. 
12* 


\ :  i«  11 


H       I 


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i 


m  i; 


m 


J^': 


140 


THE  CENTRAL  GOLD  REGION. 


The  true  region  of  the  precious  metals  is  not  yet  reached ;  it  lies 
beyond  the  Cordillera,  upon  the  Plateau,  ic  is  the  immense 
area  convulsed  by  volcanic  action;  containing  the  Sierra  San 
Juan,  the  Sierra  La  Plata,  and  the  Sierra  AVasatch,  and  seamed 
with  the  radiant  gorges  of  the  Del  Norte,  San  Juan,  Eagle,  and 
Colorado  rivers,  where  gold  and  silver  will  be  found  in  mass  and 
in  posLion,  accompanied  by  the  precious  stones.  It  is  over  this 
complex  but  subliuao  country  that  the  pioneers  will  swarm 
during  the  coming  season  of  1860,  penetrating  and  revealing  the 
wonders  of  its  labyrinthine  recesses.  Some  brief  notes  in  advance 
of  their  exploration  may  be  opportune. 

One  radical  fact  is  discernible  to  everybody.  The  amount  of 
gold  and  silver  coin  among  any  people  is  the  gauge  of  their 
civilization.  It  pays  daily  wages,  and  all  industrial  employments 
expand  or  contract  with  its  volume.  To  produce  and  retain 
among  themselves  the  precious  metals  is  desirable  with  an  ambi- 
tious people.  Fur  three  and  a  half  centuries  the  world  has  been 
supplied  with  coin  extracted  from  the  flanks  of  the  Andes,  and 
exported  from  Spanish  America.  Besides  the  mines  of  Chili, 
Peru,  and  Central  America,  a  chief  source,  especially  of  silver, 
has  been  the  flanks  and  spurs  of  the  Sierra  Mlmhres,  which 
traverses  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands  in  Mexico,  bisecting 
them  from  south  to  north,  and  traversing  the  States  of  Durango, 
Chihuahua,  Sonora,  and  New  Mexiuo.  This  mountain  chain, 
1200  miles  in  length,  corresponds  V'th  the  109°  meridian, 
leaving  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  in  latitude  2.3°,  and  sinking 
into  the  Cordillera  Madre  in  latitude  39°.  It  forms  the  back- 
bone which  divides  the  basins  of  the  Del  Norte  and  Colorado, 
and  is  deeply  channelled  by  their  many  aflluent  streams.  The 
energies  of  the  Spanish  race  have  reached,  in  mining,  only  to  the 
sources  of  the  Gila.  North  of  that  stream  for  600  miles  its  pre- 
eminent   metalliferous   character    docs  not    diminish.      As  it 


-.*    '  ■ 


I?    'I 


is    :.  .1' . 
I*     '  V' 


THE   PARC  OF  SAN   LOUIS,   ETC. 


141 


approaches  its  junction  with  the  Sierra  Madre,  at  the  focuy  of  so 
many  stupendous  rivers  and  mountains,  it  rises  to  an  immense 
bulk  and  altitude.  This  elevated  portion  of  200  miles,  distin- 
guished by  glaciers  upon  the  summits,  has  the  local  name  of 
Sierra  San  Juan.  Midway  from  the  western  flank  of  the  San 
Juan,  protrudes  the  snowy  chain  of  the  Sierra  La  Plata, 
extending  300  miles  towards  the  south-west,  and  enveloping  the 
sources  of  the  great  river  San  Juan,  Of  all  known  and  developed 
sources  of  the  precious  metals,  the  region  of  the  Plateau  tra- 
versed by  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  has  been  the  most  prolific  and 
inexhaustible.  Correct  reason  infers  that  all  the  transverse 
chains  of  the  Plateau  (the  Wasatch,  Snake  river.  Blue  Moun- 
tains, and  Olympians  of  Oregon)  have  the  same  metalliferous 
characteristics. 

The  region  of  the  Plateau  interrupted  by  these  elevated 
mountain  masses,  and  scored  by  the  rivers,  pares,  and  cafions  by 
which  they  are  separated,  is  characterized  by  prodigious  volcanic 
convulsions.  Immense  pedrigals  of  vitrified  lava  abound,  walled 
around  by  upheaved  mountains  of  carboniferous  and  sulphurous 
limestones.  The  variety  and  grandeur  of  the  geological  develop- 
ments is  infinite.  No  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  globe  presents 
such  wonderful  phenomena,  over  so  huge  an  area.  It  is  into  this 
region,  so  central  to  our  national  territories,  and  so  conveniently 
accessible,  that  the  pioneers  are  about  to  enter  with  the  coming 
summer. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Great  Plains,  continually  and  easily  tra- 
versed, have  become  a  familiar  highway,  the  fertility  and  pastoral 
excellence  of  which  a  single  season  has  established  in  the  popular 
mind. 

It  is  not  easy  for  one  who  holds  in  his  mental  vision  the  pro- 
gressive growth  of  our  great  country,  so  intense  in  volume  and 
celerity,  to  disconnect  its  march  from  a  visibly  systematic  mission. 


't 


]i 


r  til 


',fti 


142 


THE  CENTRAL   HOLD   llEGION. 


li  1. 


I     & 


What  is  already  accomplished  very  distinctly  prolongs  its  profile 
into  the  future,  and  predicts  the  order  of  advance.  A  uow  and 
splendid  arena  of  empire  is  here  suddenly  thrown  open,  and  its 
conquest  at  once  undertaken  by  the  pioneer  host.  It  is  thus 
that  the  martial  energies  and  genius  of  our  people  arc  developed. 
The  reclamation  of  new  departments  of  the  wilderness,  reflecting 
its  light  through  every  detail  of  our  industrial  populations, 
kindles  uew  fires  which  become  universal  to  our  people,  as  the 
area  for  their  energies  is  expanded.  All  pursuits  of  life,  and 
every  corner  of  our  country,  receives  its  inspiration.  Here  is 
seen  an  order  of  progression,  the  counterpart  of  what  distinguishes 
the  history  of  European  society,  but  the  reverse  of  it  in  moral 
grandeur  and  social  and  political  results.  The  formations  of 
empires  in  the  old  world,  accomplished  by  devastating  battles, 
repeated  in  every  generation  for  fifty  centuries,  exhibit  only  force 
to  create  and  to  sustain  governments.  Such  bloody  struggles  we 
have  lately  seen  in  Kaly,  at  Sebf.stopol,  in  India,  and  on  the 
coasts  of  China.  Upon  owr  continent,  and  under  our  civic  sys- 
tem, there  prevails  a  universal  instinct  of  conquest  and  organiza- 
tion, tempered  by  a  discipline  at  once  voluntary,  univorsal,  and 
perfect.  This  brings  to  the  construction  of  empire,  forces  of 
unheard-of  numbers  and  efliciency,  perpetually  in  the  field,  and 
perpetually  victorious.  In  our  population  of  thirty  millions,  two 
millions  annually  change  their  homes.  This  impulse  causes  a 
yearly  movement  of  our  people,  from  the  east  to  the  west, 
resembling  the  undulation  of  the  sea,  which  accompanies  the 
great  tide-wave.  Diurnally  is  the  surface  of  the  sea  liftea  up  ia 
silence  and  poured  upon  the  coasts  of  the  continents.  V^ery 
similar  to  this  is  the  movement  annually  seen  to  impel  our  people, 
through  and  through,  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  limit  of 
organized  society.     This  is  seen  and  measured  by  the  eye  where 


I 


i 


THE   PARC   OP   SAN    LOUIS,    ETC. 


143 


the  foreign  emigration  reaches  our  shores,  and  where  the  pioneers 
debouch  upon  the  wilderness. 

With  us,  then,  the  forces  of  conquest  are  voluntary  and  self- 
governed.  They  employ  themselves  to  reconnoitre,  to  create  new 
societies,  and  to  plait  empire  over  the  wilderness.  These  ener- 
gies pervade  society  everywhere;  they  manifest  themselves  in 
their  greatest  activity  where  they  encounter  the  wilderness,  and 
seem,  as  it  were,  to  bo  so  broken  by  its  resistance  as  to  display 
the  individual  combatants,  and  unveil  the  details  of  an  immense 
system.  ^ 

Practically,  then,  the  immense  movements  of  the  pioneers, 
heretofore  expended  around  the  region  occupied  by  the  Plains 
and  the  Great  Mountains,  now  tend  to  converge  upon  them,  and 
occupy  them  throughout  their  whole  expanse.  These  countries 
are  found  upon  trial  to  be  the  opposite  of  what  imperfect  exami- 
nations had  predicted  them  to  bo.  Everywhere  smooth,  open, 
fertile,  of  propitious  climate  and  pastoral,  transportation  in  every 
form  of  vehicle  and  on  foot  is  easy  and  uninterrupted.  Food 
upon  the  hoof  transports  itself.  All  classes,  ages,  and  sexes  go 
forth  without  trepidation  or  the  anxieties  incident  to  an  uncer- 
tain destination.  The  distances  are  short,  the  area  for  occupa- 
tion unlimited,  the  employments  varied  by  arable  agriculture, 
mining,  pastoral  agriculture,  and  commerce. 

The  production  of  gold  and  silver,  the  construction  of  habita- 
tions, of  cities,  and  of  states,  will  be  hastened  under  a  propitious 
climate,  salubrious  •  seasons,  and  perennial  pastures.  Public 
works  will  not  linger  far  behind,  and  long  before  our  going  gene- 
ration shall  have  ended  its  career,  our  states  will  compactly  fill 
the  space  from  one  ocean  to  the  other,  and  citizens  of  Asia  and 
of  Europe  traverse  familiarly  the  central  region  of  our  country,  in 
the  interchanges  of  commerce,  and  passing  to  and  fro  to  their 


M 


f,l 


fjt 


10-^:.. a. 


APPENDIX. 


SPEECH  OF 

COL.  WILLIAM  GILriN, 

ON   THE   SUBJECT   OF   THE   PACIFIC   RAILWAY. 

DELIVERED  AT  INDEPENDENCE,  MO.,  AT  A  MASS  MEETING 
or  THE  CITIZENS  OF  JACKSON  COUNTY,  HELD  NOVEMBER  5, 
A.D.    1849. 

It  is  with  profound  pleasure,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  I  address 
my  fellow-citizens  here  assembled,  to  respond  approvingly  to  the 
National  Convention  at  St.  Louis.  Having  shared  with  the 
pioneers  from  Missouri  in  the  original  exploration  and  settlement 
of  Orc"-on  and  California — having  since  been  one  amontrst  those 
soldiers  who  carried,  during  war,  our  national  flag  across  the 
Sierra  3Iadre,  and  planted  it  upon  the  waters  descending  to 
the  Pacific  (never  thence  to  recede),  I  greet  with  enthusiastic 
joy  these  civic  movements  of  the  people  to  consummate,  with  the 
great  works  of  peace,  what  war  and  exploration  have  opened. 
Diplomacy  and  war  have  brought  to  us  the  completion  of  our 
territory  and  peace.  From  this  we  advance  to  the  results. 
These  results  are,  for  the  present,  the  imperial  expansion  of  our 
Republic  to  the  other  ocean,  fraternity  with  Asia,  and  the  con- 
struction across  the  centre  of  our  territory,  from  ocean  to  ocean, 
of  a  great  iron  pathway,  specially  national  to  us,  international  to 
the  northern  continents  of  America,  Asia,  and  Europe. 

In  approaching  a  discussion  of  a  "  National  Kailroad  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,"  infinite  in  number  and  variety  are  the 

(145) 


146 


APPENDIX. 


matters  which  swaria  up  and  demand  to  array  themselves  in  its 
advocacy.  Thus  do  I  feel  embarrassed  how  to  say  such  things 
only  as  are  true  and  sensible  in  themselves,  as  well  as  interestin<» 
to  my  hearers ;  let  me  then  sketch  what  I  may  say  under  the 
following  heads  : — 

1st.  The  National  character  of  this  work,  and  its  necessiti/. 

2d.  Its  practicability,  and  the  present  capacity  of  the  Nation. 

od.  The  time  and  manner  of  its  construction. 

Progress,  political  liberty,  equality.  These,  the  most  ancient 
and  cardinal  rights  of  human  society,  perplexed  in  the  obscurity 
of  military  despotism,  and  almost  lost  for  many  centuries,  are  now 
struggling  throughout  the  world  to  re-establish  their  pre-eminence. 
In  America  they  occupy  the  vantage  ground;  for  sovereignty 
resides  in  the  suffrage,  and  with  us  it  is  universal.  Progress, 
then,  in  America  has  the  intensity  of  the  whole  people,  showing 
itself  in  forms  as  infinite  as  the  thoughts  of  the  human  mind. 
But  it  is  to  that  department  of  progress  which  creates  for  us  now 
states  in  the  wilderness,  and  expands  the  area  of  our  llepublic, 
that  I  here  restrict  myself.  Let  us  understand  tlits ;  what  it  is 
at  the  present  hour — what  stimulates — what  retards  it.  Since 
1G08  wo  have  grown  from  nothing  to  22,000,000  :  from  a  garden 
patch,  to  bo  thirty  States  and  many  Territories  !  This,  with 
;igriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  power,  and  happiness,  is 
our  progress  so  far.  The  annual  yield  in  money  of  this  agricul- 
ture and  manufactures  is  now  §2,000,000,000.  This  commerce 
vexes  all  the  waters,  and  penetrates  to  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  This  power,  tranquilly  complete  on  our  own  continent, 
compels  peaceful  deference  abroad.  This  happiness,  so  benefi- 
cently felt  at  home,  recruits  us  with  the  oppressed  of  all  nations. 
But  the  life  of  a  nation  is  long.  Unlike  human  life,  briefly 
extinguished  in  the  grave,  a  nation  breathes  even  on  with  the 
vigor  of  generations  of  men  daily  arriving  at  maturity,  and  then 
departing.  A  nation  has  then  a  normal  law  of  growth,  and  it  is 
this  law  which  every  American  citizen  ought  familiarly  to  under- 
stand, for  obedience  to  it  is  the  first  duty  of  patriotism. 

Up  to  the  year  1840,  the  progress  whereby  twenty-six  States 
and  four  Territories  had  been  established  and   peopled,  had 


■li:.     -fi! 


APPENDIX. 


147 


amounted  to  a  solid  strip  of  twenty-five  miles  in  depth,  added 
annually,  along  the  western  face  of  the  Union  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf.  This  oecupatiun  of  wild  territory,  accumulatinj;;  uutward 
like  the  annual  rings  of  our  forest  trees,  proceeds  with  all  the 
solemnity  of  a  Providential  ordinance.  It  is  at  this  moment 
sweeping  onward  to  the  Pacilie  with  accelerated  activity  and 
force,  like  a  deluge  of  men,  rising  uuabatedly,  and  daily  pu,shed 
onward  by  the  hand  of  (lod.  It  is  from  the  statistics  accumu- 
lated in  the  bureaux  at  Washington  (the  deconnial  census,  sales 
of  public  lands,  assessments  of  State  and  National  taxes),  that 
we  deduce  with  certainty  the  law  of  this  deluge  of  human  beings, 
which  nothing  interrupts  and  no  power  can  stop.  Fronting  the 
Union  on  every  side  is  a  vast  arm;/  of  pioneers.  This  vast  body, 
numbering  500,000  at  least,  has  the  movements  and  obeys  the 
discipline  of  a  perfectly  o^giiiii/ed  military  force.  It  is  momenta- 
rily recruited  by  single  individuals,  families,  and  in  some 
instances,  communities,  from  every  village,  county,  city,  and 
State  in  the  Union,  and  by  emigrants  from  other  nations.  Each 
man  in  this  moving  throng  is  in  force  a  platoon,  lie  makes  a 
farm  upon  the  outer  edge  of  the  settlements  which  ho  occupies 
for  a  yeai',  and  then  sells  to  the  leading  files  of  the  mass  pressing 
up  to  him  from  behind.  He  again  advances  twenty-five  miles, 
renews  his  farm,  is  again  overtaken,  and  again  sells.  As  indivi- 
duals fall  out  from  the  front  rank,  or  fix  themselves  permanently, 
others  rush  from  behind,  pass  to  the  front,  and  assail  the  wilder- 
ness in  their  turn. 

Previous  to  the  late  war  with  Mexico,  this  bu.sy  throng  was 
engaged  at  one  point  in  occupying  the  peninsula  of  Florida  and 
lands  vacated  by  emigrant  Indian  tribes — at  another  in  reaching 
the  copper  region  of  Lake  Superior — in  absorbing  Iowa  and  Wis- 
consin. From  this  very  spot  had  gone  forth  a  forlorn  hope  to 
occupy  Oregon  and  California;  Texas  was  thus  annexed,  the 
Indian  country  pressed  upon  its  flanks,  and  spy  companies 
reconnoitering  New  and  Old  Mexico,  Even  then,  obeying  that 
mysterious  and  uncontrollable  impulse  which  drives  our  nation 
to  its  goal,  a  body  of  the  hardiest  race  that  ever  faced  varied  and 
unnumbered  privations  and  dangers,  embarked  upon  the  trail  to 

13  K 


ili 


:    [) 


^i:!. 


148 


APPENDIX. 


1^ 


the  Pacific  coust,  forced  their  way  to  the  cad,  encountering  and 
defying  dangers  and  difficulties  unparalleled,  with  a  courage  and 
success  the  like  to  which  the  world  has  not  heretofore  seen. 
Thu.s,  then,  over/and  sweeps  this  tide-wave  of  population,  absorb- 
ing in  its  thundering  march  the  glebe,  the  savages,  and  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  wilderness,  scaling  the  mountains  and  dobouuhing 
down  upon  the  seaboard.  Upou  the  high  Atlantic  sea-coast,  the 
pioneer  force  has  thrown  itself  into  ships,  and  found  in  the 
ocean-fisheries  food  for  its  creative  genius.  The  whaling  fleet  is 
the  marine  force  of  the  pioneer  army.  These  two  forces,  by 
land  and  sea,  have  both  worked  steadily  onward  to  the  North 
Pacific.  They  now  reunite  in  the  harbors  of  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia, about  to  bring  into  existence  upon  the  J,'acific  a  commer- 
cial grandeur  identical  with  that  which  has  followed  them  upou 
the  Atlantic. 

National  wars  stimulate  progress,  for  they  are  the  consequence 
of  indiscreet  opposition  and  jealousy  of  its  mareh — and  because 
in  these  periods  of  excitement  'ic  adventurous  brush  through 
the  cobweb-laws  spun  by  the  miuiphysics  of  peace.  Then  it  is 
that  the  young  pioneers,  entering  the  armies  of  the  frontier,  rush 
out  and  reconnoitre  the  unpruned  wilderness.  During  the  Revo- 
lution, little  armies,  issuing  down  the  Alloghanies,  passed  over 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  the  North-west  Territory.  These 
new  countries  were  reconnoitred  and  admired.  With  hardy 
frames,  confirmed  health,  and  recruited  by  a  year  or  two  of  peace, 
these  soldiers  returned  to  occupy  the  choice  spots  which  had 
been  their  bivouac  and  camping-grounds.  From  the  cam- 
paigns of  war  grew  the  settlements  of  peace,  and  populous 
States  displaced  the  wilderness.  Another  war  came  with 
another  generation.  Armies  penetrated  into  Michigan,  Upper 
Illinois,  and  through  Mississippi.  The  great  Mississippi  river, 
crossed  at  many  points,  ceased  to  be  a  barrier,  and  the  steamboat 
appeared  plowing  its  yellow  flood.  Five  great  States,  five  Ter- 
ritories, and  three  millions  of  people  now  emblazon  its  western 
side! 

And  now  again  has  come  another  generation  and  another  war. 
Your  armies  have  scaled  the  icy  barriers  of  the  "  Mother  Moun- 


B\'     1 


i:'i:f: 


\ 


APPENDIX. 


149 


tain"  and  the  Andes.  Illd  for  a  time  in  the  mazes  of  their 
manifold  peaks  and  ridp;cs,  they  have  is.yued  out  at  many  points 
upon  the  beach  of  the  blue  Pacific.  I'assing  round  by  the  great 
oceans,  a  military  marine  simultaneously  strikes  the  shore,  and 
lends  fhcm  aid.  Thus  is  the  wilderness  reconnoitred  in  war,  its 
geography  illustrated,  and  its  conquerors  disciplined.  Your 
young  soldiers,  resting  for  a  moment  at  home,  resuming  the  civic 
wreath  and  weapons  of  husbandry,  have  sallied  forth  aj^aiii  to 
give  to  you  great  roads  for  commerce  and  a  sisterhood  of  maritime 
States  on  the  new-found  ocean.  Only  four  years  ago,  the  nation, 
misled  by  prejudices  artfully  instilled  into  the  general  mind, 
regarded  the  great  western  wilds  uninhabitable,  and  the  new 
ocean  out  of  reach.  War  came — 100,000  soldiers,  and  as  many 
citizens,  went  forth,  penetrated  everywhere,  and  returned  to 
relate  in  every  open  ear  the  wonderful  excellence  of  the  climates 
and  countries  they  had  seen.  Hence  have  come  already  these 
new  States,  this  other  seaboard,  and  the  renewed  vivacity  of  pro- 
gress with  which  the  general  heart  now  palpitates.  Will  this 
cease  or  slacken  ?  Has  the  pouring  forth  of  the  stream  from 
Europe  ever  ceased  since  the  daj  of  Columbus  ?  Has  the  grass 
obliterated  the  trails  down  the  AUeghauii-  or  across  the  Missis- 
sippi ?  Rather  h^t  him  who  doubts  seat  himself  upon  the  bank 
of  our  magnificent  river  and  await  the  running  dry  of  its  yellow 
waters — for  sooner  shall  he  see  this,  than  a  cessation  in  the 
crowd  now  flowing  loose  to  the  western  seaboard  !  Gold  is  dugj 
lumber  is  manufactured;  pastoral  and  arable  agriculture  grow 
apace;  a  marine  flashes  into  existence;  commerce  resounds ;  the 
fisheries  are  prosecuted ;  vessels  are  built ;  steam  -janta  through 
all  the  waters.  Each  interest,  stimulating  all  the  rest,  and  per- 
petually creating  novelties,  a  career  is  commenced  to  which,  as  it 
glances  across  the  Pacific,  the  human  eye  assigns  no  term. 

The  distance  from  the  top  of  the  Sierra  Madre  (Rocky  Moun- 
tains), where  you  leave  behind  the  waters  flowing  to  the  Atlantic, 
is  everywhere  some  1500  miles.  The  topographical  character  of 
this  ultramontane  region  is  very  grand  and  characteristic.  It  is 
identical  with  the  region  at  the  sources  of  the  La  Plata,  Amazon, 
and  Magdalena  of  South  America,  but  more  immense.     Sketched 


ii 


i^ 


■i':   \' 


0. 


W 


150 


API'KNDIX. 


by  its  Croat  outlinos,  it  is  simply  this:  Tho  cliaiii  of  the  Andes 
debouch i II i:;  north  from  tlio  Isthmus,  opens  lil;e  tho  letter  Y  into 
two  primary  chains  (Cordilleras).  On  tho  rij^ht  the  SiKUliA 
Madrk,  trcndinp;  along  the  coast  of  tho  Mexican  (Julf,  divides 
the  northern  continent  almost  centrally,  formin;^  an  unbroken 
water-shod  to  ]?ohrin>;'s  Straits.  On  'ho  loft,  the  Andks  follows 
the  coast  of  the  PaciGc,  warps  around  tho  (lulf  uf  California,  and 
passing  alonji;  the  coast  of  California  and  Oroiron  (under  tho  name 
of  Sierra  Nevada)  terminates  also  near  IJohrin^^'s  Straits.  Tho 
immense  interval  between  these  chains,  is  a  succession  of  intra- 
inontuDc  basins,  urmi  in  number,  and  ranging  from  south  to 
north.  The  whole  forms  tho  (iroat  I'latcau  of  the  Tahle 
Lands. 

First,  is  the  "Basin  of  the  City  of  Mexico,"  receiving  tho  in- 
terior drainage  of  both  Cordilleras,  which  waters,  having  no  outlet 
to  either  ocoaji,  are  dispersed  again  by  evaporation.  Snund,  tho 
"  liaison  dc  Mapimi,"  collocting  int-:^  the  Laguna  tho  streams 
draining  many  States,  from  San  Ijuis  I'otosi  to  Coahuila,  also 
without  any  outflow  to  either  ocean.  Tlilnl,  tho  "  IJasin  of 
the  Del  Norte,"  whoso  vast  area  feeds  the  Kio  del  Norte,  the 
Conchos  and  Peeos.  These,  concentrated  into  the  llio  Grande 
del  Norte  behind  the  Sierra  Madre,  have,  by  thoir  united  volume, 
burst  through  its  wall  and  found  an  outlet  towards  the  Atlantic. 
The  geological  character  of  this  basin,  its  altitude,  its  configura- 
tion and  locality,  all  assign  it  this  position,  as  distingu:.^lling  it 
from  all  others  contributing  their  waters  to  the  Atlantic.  Fourth, 
the  *'  Basin  of  the  Great  Colorado  of  the  West."  This  immense 
basin  embraces  ahove,  tho  great  rivers  Kio  Verde  and  Itio  Grande, 
whose  confluent  waters,  penetrating  tho  mighty  Cordillera  of  the 
Andes,  athwart  from  base  to  base,  discharge  themselves  into  the 
Gulf  of  California.  Into  this  sublime  gorge  (tho  Caiion  ef  the 
Colorado),  tho  human  eye  has  never  swept,  for  an  interval  of  375 
miles ;  so  stern  a  character  does  nature  assume  where  such 
stupendous  mountains  resist  the  passage  of  such  mighty  rivers. 
Fifth,  the  "Basin  of  the  groat  Salt  Jiakc,"  like  tho  Caspian  of 
Asia,  containing  many  small  basins  within  one  great  rim,  and 
losing  its   scattered  waters   by  evaporation,  has   no  outflow  to 


:i^ 

% 


ATl'KNDIX. 


151 


cither  ocean.  Sixth,  "  The  IJasln  of  the  Columbia,"  lyinj;  acroHs 
tho  nortliorn  flanks  of  the  two  last,  and  '^riu\d  above  them  all  in 
position  and  conliiruration.  IMiuiy  great  rivers,  besides  the  Snako 
and  Upper  (^dunihia,  deseending  from  the  f^reat  arc  of  the  Sicrru 
Madre,  where  it  circles  towards  the  nor*I»-west  from  the  4;>°  tc 
tJli*^,  flowing  from  east  to  west,  and  conce  itralinii,-  above  tho  (^\is- 
cadfs  into  a  single  trunk,  which  hero  strikes  the  mighty  Cordillera 
of  tho  Andes  (narrowed  to  ono  ridge),  and  t  isgorges  itself  through 
this  sublime  pass  at  onco  into  the  open  IV'-ilie.  It  is  htrr,  de- 
scending by  the  grade  of  this  river  tho  whole  dista;>ce  from  the 
rim  of  the  Valley  of  the  ^lississippi  and  through  the  Andef  to 
the  Pacific,  that  the  great  (hbuinh  of  the  American  continent 
towards  the  West  is  found — and  hero  will  be  the  pathway  of 
future  generations,  as  the  people  of  t.o  old  world  pass  down  tho 
Mediterranean  and  out  by  (libraltar.  Above,  the  ''Basin  of 
Frazer  Ikiver"  forms  a  s>  roil/i  of  the  Taiu.k  Lands.  This  has 
burst  a  canon  through  tho  Andes,  and,  like  the  fourth  and  sixth 
basins,  sends  its  winters  to  the  Pacific.  With  the  geography  of 
the  more  northern  region  wo  arc  imperfectly  acquainted,  knowing 
however  that  from  Pugett's  Sound  to  ]>ehring's  Straits,  tho  wall 
of  the  Andes  forms  the  beach  itself  of  the  PaciOc,  whilst  the 
Sierra  ^ladrc  forms  the  wcstcvn  rim  of  the  basins  of  the  Sas- 
katchewan of  Hudson's  Bay  and  ihe  McKenzio  of  tho  Arctic 
Seas. 

Thus  then  briefly  wo  arrive  at  this  great  cardinal  department 
of  the  geography  of  the  continent,  viz. :  TiiK  Taijle  Lands — 
being  a  longitudinal  section  (about  two-sevenths  of  its  whole 
area) — intermediate  between  tho  two  oceans,  but  walled  off  from 
both,  and  having  but  three  outlets  ibr  its  waters,  viz.,  the  canons 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Columbia.  Columnar 
basalt  forms  the  basement  of  this  whole  region,  and  volcanic 
action  is  everywhere  prominent.  Its  general  level,  ascertained 
upon  the  lakes  of  the  diflerent  basins,  is  about  GOOO  feet  above 
the  sea.  Ilain  seldom  falls,  and  timber  is  rare.  The  ranges  of 
mountains  which  separate  the  basins  arc  often  rugged  and  capped 
with  perpetual  snow,  whilst  isolated  masses  of  great  height  elevate 
them.sclvcs  from  the  plains.  This  whole  formation  abounds  in 
]3» 


,.  'i 


II 


i,l 

i" 


I  S 


152 


APPENDIX. 


the  precious  metals.  Sucli  is  the  region  of  the  Table  Lands. 
Beyond  these  is  the  maritime  region,  for  the  trreat  wall  of  the 
Andes,  receding  from  the  beach  of  the  Pacitic,  leaves  between 
itself  and  the  sea  a  half  valley,  as  it  were,  forming  the  seaboard 
slope  from  San  Diego  to  the  Straits  of  Juan  di  Fuca.  This  is 
1200  miles  in  length  and  2")0  broad.  Across  it  descends  to  the 
sea  a  series  of  fine  rivers,  ranging  from  south  to  north,  like  the 
little  streams  descending  from  the  Allcghanies  to  the  Atlantic. 
These  are  the  San  Gabriel,  the  Buenaventura,  the  San  Joakim 
and  Sacramento,  the  Rogue,  Tlamoth,  and  Umqua  rivers,  the 
Wallamette  and  Columbia,  the  Cowlitz,  Chekalis,  and  Nasqually 
of  Pugett's  Sound.  This  resembles  and  balances  the  maritime 
slope  of  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  continent  j  but  it  is  vastly  larger 
superficially ;  of  the  highest  agricultural  excellence  j  basaltic  in 
formation ;  grand  beyond  the  powers  of  description,  the  snowy 
points  and  vulcanoes  of  the  Andes  being  everywhere  visible  from 
the  sea,  whilst  its  climate  is  entirely  exempt  from  the  frosts  of 
winter. 

Such,  and  so  grand,  is  our  continent  towards  the  Pacific.  Let 
us  turn  our  glance  towards  the  Atlantic  and  Arctic  Oceans,  and 
scan  the  geography  in  our  front.  Four  great  valleys  appear, 
each  one  drained  by  a  river  of  the  first  magnitude :  1  .^t.  The 
Mississippi  Valley,  greatest  in  magnitude,  and  crabrpcing  the 
heart  and  splendor  of  the  continent,  gathers  tho  waters  of 
1,500,000  square  miles  and  sheds  them  into  the  Gv.lf  of  Mexico; 
2d.  The  St.  La  ■  rence,  whoso  river  flows  into  the  North  Atlantic; 
3d.  The  Nelson  and  Severn  rivers,  into  Hudson's  Bay ;  and  4th, 
the  ^reat  valley  of  the  McKcnzic  river,  rushing  north  into  the 
Hyperborean  Sea.  These  valley.,  everywhere  calcareous,  have  a 
unifort.2  surface,  gently  rolling,  but  destitute  of  mountains,  and 
pass  into  one  another  by  dlviihng  ridges,  which  distribute  its  own 
waters  iLto  each,  but  whose  superior  elevation  is  only  distinguish- 
able amongst  the  general  undulations,  by  the  water-sheds  which 
they  form.  Around  the  whole  continent,  following  the  coasts  of 
the  oceans,  runs  u  rim  of  mountains,  giving  the  idea  of  a  va'^t 
amphitheatre.  Through  this  rim  penetrate  towards  the  south, 
east,  and  north,  the  above  great  rivers  o?i(y,  forming  at  their 


^(|if;i! 


APPENDIX. 


153 


debouches  the  natural  doors  of  the  interior ;  but  no  stream  pene- 
trates urst  through  the  Sierra  Madre,  which  forms  an  unbroken 
■water-shed  from  Magellan's  to  IJohring's  Straits. 

Thus  we  find  more  than  three-fifths  of  our  continent  to  consist 
of  a  limitless  plain,  intersected  by  countless  navigable  streams, 
flowing  everywhere  from  the  circumference  towards  common 
centres,  grouped  in  close  proximity,  and  only  divided  by  what 
connects  them  into  one  homogeneous  plan. 

To  the  American  people,  then,  belongs  this  vast  interior  space, 
covered  over  its  uniform  surface  of  2,800,000  square  miles,  with 
the  richest  calcareous  soil,  touching  th-  .-uows  towards  the  north, 
and  the  torrid  heats  towards  the  south,  bound  together  by  an 
infinite  internal  navigation,  of  a  temperate  climate,  and  consti- 
tuting, in  the  whole,  the  most  magnificent  dwelling-place  marked 
out  by  God  for  aian's  abode.  As  the  complete  beneficence  of  the 
Almighty  has  thus  given  to  us,  the  owners  of  the  continent,  the 
great  natural  outlets  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf,  and  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  North  Atlantic,  so  '.-  it  left  to  a  pious  and  grate- 
ful people,  appreciating  this  goodness,  to  construct  through  the 
gorge  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  a  great  artificial  monument,  an  iron 
path,  a  National  Fiuilway  to  the  Wesieni  Sea. 

Here  we  perceive,  in  the  formation  of  the  American  continent, 
a  sublime  simplicity,  a  complete  economy  of  arrangement,  singular 
to  itself,  and  the  reverse  of  what  distinguishes  the  ancient  world. 
To  understand  this,  let  ui'  compare  them. 

Europe,  the  smallest  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the  land,  con- 
taius  in  its  centre,  the  icy  m  sses  of  the  Alps;  from  around  their 
declivities  radiate  the  large  rivers  of  that  continent.  The  Danube 
directly  east  to  the  Euxinej  the  Po  and  Rhone,  south  to  the 
Mediterranean;  the  Rhine  to  the  Northern  Ocean.  Walled  oif 
by  the  Pyrenees  and  Carpathians,  divergent  and  isolated,  are  the 
Tagus,  the  Elbe,  and  other  single  rivers,  affluents  of  the  Baltic, 
the  Atlanti'!,  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Euxine.  Uuncendiug 
from  common  radiant  points,  and  diverging  every  way  lii  ni  <itie 
another,  no  iaterconmuiu'cation  exists  between  the  rivers  of 
Europe;  navigation  is  pet.y  and  feeble;  nor  have  irr  -ind  com- 
merce, during  many  centuries,  united   so  many  smsal    valleys, 


154 


APPENDIX. 


remotely  isolated  by  impenetrable  barriers.  Hence  upon  each 
river  dwells  a  <Hstinct  people,  differing  from  all  the  rest  in  race, 
language,  habits,  and  interests.  Though  often  politically  amal- 
gamated by  conquest,  they  again  relapse  into  fragments,  from 
innate  geographical  incoherence.  The  history  of  these  nation.^ 
is  a  story  of  perpetual  war  and  mutual  extermination. 

Exactly  similar  to  Kurope,  though  grander  in  size  and  popula- 
tion, is  Asia.  From  the  stupendous  central  barrier  of  the  Hini- 
mehiyas  run  the  four  great  rivers  of  China,  due  east,  to  discharge 
themselves  beneath  the  rising  sun ;  towards  the  south  run  the 
rivers  iif  Cocliiu  China,  the  (jianges  and  the  Indus  :  towards  the 
west,  the  rivers  of  the  Caspian  :  and  north,  through  Siberia  to 
the  Arctic  Seas,  many  rivers  of  the  first  magnitude.  During 
fifty  centuries,  as  now,  the  Alps  and  Ilimmelaya  Mountains  have 
proved  insuperable  barriers  to  the  amalgamation  of  the  nations 
around  their  bases,  and  dwelling  in  the  valleys  which  radiate 
from  their  slopes.  The  continent  of  Africa,  as  far  as  we  know 
the  details  of  its  surface,  is  even  more  than  these,  split  into  dis- 
jointed fragments. 

Thus  the  continents  of  the  old  world  resemble  a  bowl  placed 
bottom  upwards,  which  scatters  every  thin"-  pnured  upon  it,  whilst 
NoHTliKiiN  Amkrica,  right  side  up,  receives  and  gathers  towards 
its  centre  whatever  falls  within  its  rim  ! 

Behold,  then,  the  I'UTUiiK  of  America,  graven,  in  the  geogra- 
phical lines  and  arteries  of  her  symmetrical,  ocean-bound  expanse  ! 
Behold  it /untold  in  the  oracular  prophecies  of  past  and  iircsent 
progress.  In  geography  the  antithesis  of  the  Old  World,  in 
society  it  will  be  the  reverse.  Our  North  America  will  rapidly 
attain  to  a  population  equalling  that  of  the  rest  of  the  world  com- 
bined ;  forming  a  single  people,  identical  in  manners,  language, 
customs,  and  impulses ;  preserving  the  same  civilization,  the 
same  religion ,  imbued  with  the  .same  opinions,  and  having  the 
same  political  liberties.  Of  this  we  have  two  illustrations  now 
under  our  eye  :  the  one  pa.ssing  away,  the  other  advancing.  The 
aboriginal  Indian  race,  amongst  whom,  from  Daricn  to  the  Esqui- 
maux, and  from  Florida  to  Vancouver's  Island,  exists  a  perfect 
identity  in    their  hair,  complexion,  features,   stature,   and   lan- 


,;']:-»' 


ill 


APPENDIX. 


155 


guago.  And  secind,  ia  the  instinctive  fusion  into  one  language 
and -one  new  race,  of  immigrant  Germans,  English,  French,  and 
^^panish,  whose  individuality  is  obliterated  in  a  single  generation! 

At  this  moment  the  maritime  pollcj/,  planned  with  dark  genius, 
and  pursued  with  scrupulous  selfishness,  palls  our  march. 
Nuthiug  behind  us  in  history  at  all  rivals  in  rapidity  of  growth, 
ia  wealth,  power,  and  splendor,  those  States  masking  tbe  sea- 
board, and  called  at  home  "  the.  Old  Thirteen."  Hero  are  cities 
(and  a  great  number  of  them),  surpassing,  at  one  century  old, 
those  of  a  thousand  years,  upon  the  old  continents  !  The  States 
have  swelled  as  fast.  This  admirable  greatness  is  due  to  the 
mastery  of  the  continent  which  they  c^rcrcise  by  majorities  in  the 
national  councils ;  to  the  immense  income  of  revenue  which  they 
thus  collect  and  use,  and  to  their  monopoly  of  all  foreign  coin- 
merce.  A  new  and  rival  seaboard — "  a  New  Thirteen" — would 
halve  and  distribute  all  "f  these.  It  was  forcfroi  how  progress, 
travelling  centrally  across  the  continent,  was  stndinL'  point  blank 
to  this  consummation.  To  retard  this,  indefinitely,  arose  the 
maritim>-  policy,  invented  by  sophistry,  and  sustained  by  meta- 
physics. 

3Ir.  JotVersou  having,  with  consummate  prescience,  added  to 
our  domain  the  Louisiana  purchase,  the  most  splendid  portion  of 
the  habitable  globe,  hastened  to  give  it  population  and  a  mari- 
time wing  to  the  Pacific.  Explorations  under  Clarke  and  Lewis, 
and  others,  followed  by  Aster's  enterprise,  opened,  yo/Vy  ijcars 
ago,  the  great  commercial  route  between  the  oceans,  since  shut 
up  by  the  maritime  policy,  but  now  reopened.  These  were 
checked  and  overthrown  by  the  exigencies  of  foreign  war.  That 
over,  (lie  discus.sion  of  a  route  to  Asia  was  revived  by  the  press 
and  in  Congress  ;  Astor  sought  to  renew  his  enterprises,  and  aid 
was  demanded  from  the  Government  by  the  people  of  the  west, 
and  by  patriotic  individuals  i/i  the  cast.  Tliis  was  refused  by 
ttie  policy  of  IVesidcnt  Monroe's  administration,  in  whose  cabinet 
were  conjoined  Messrs.  J.  Q.  Adama,  of  Massachusetts,  and  J. 
C.  Calhoiii),  of  South  Carolina, — subtle  statesmen  of  the  most 
penetrating  foresight  and  the  loftiest  ambition. 

Power  emigrates  as  time  rolls  on.     The  pride  and  fascination 


0 


156 


APPENDIX. 


of  its  possession  lingers  supremely  potent  in  the  human  heart. 
From  this  profound  source  has  sprung  the  unequitable  viaritime 
jmUci/,  arrayed  against  the  march  of  progress  and  the  westward 
migration  of  power.     The  former  State,  Massachusetts,  had  pro- 
claimed a  national  war  unconstitutional,  and  initiated  at  Hartford 
the  preparatory  plans  to  secede  from  and   dissolve  the  Union. 
The  latter,  South  Carolina,  has  done  the  same,  pronouncing  the 
general  power  of  taxation  unconstitutional  in  a  particular  form — 
and  now  again  appear  the  same  dreadful  threats  of  "  force  and 
terror,"  pronouncing  unconstitutional  a  spscific  legislation  for  the 
territories.      Behind  this  gorgpn  of  alarm  (^Nullljicatioii),  and 
unpercoived  by  the  general  mind,  lashed  into  dismay  and  dis- 
tracted by  "  terror  and  force,"  threatening  the  Union,  the  subtle 
maritime,  iwlicy  has  been   riveted  down.      Within  the  young 
States,  the  public  glebe  has  been  held  by  t'lC  central  government 
and  withheld   from  taxation.     Thus  is  State  revenue   cut  off. 
These  public  lands  are  held  at  a  tyrannical  price,  the  sales  made 
cash,  donations  of  homestead  rights,  pre-emption,  and  graduation 
refused.      Savages,   ejected  from  the  older  States,  have  been 
bought  up  and  planted  as  a  wall  along  the  western  frontier  and 
across   the   line  of   progress.     These  are  metaphysically  called 
foreign  nations.     Recently  there  has  been  given  to  the  soldiers 
of  the  nation  a  bounty   of  $100  in  money  or  §200   in  land. 
.This    is    legislative  declaration  that  the  price  is  100  per  cent. 
above  their  highest  value.    The  revenue  raised  from  the  customs 
is  collected   at  the   seaports,  where  the  expenses  of  collection 
are  disbursed.     The  heavy  part  of  this  revenue  is  paid  by  the 
agriculturists  of  the  west,  who  are  the  consumers.     $3,000,000 
annually  of  direct  land  revenue  is  exclusively  paid  by  these  latter. 
But  where  is  this  splendid  income  of  §40,000,000,  thus  levied 
for  the  most  part  from  western   industry,  expended  ?     To  the 
navy  is  devoted  $9,000,000  (all  upon  the  tide-waters  of  the  sea- 
board).    To  the  civil  list  $5,000,000— all  there  also.     To  sea- 
hoard  improvements,  viz.  :  custom-houses,  mints,  harbors,  break- 
waters,   fortifications,    navy-yards,    light-houses,    coast    survey, 
post-tjffices,  armories,  &c.,  $2,500,000.     All  this  too  is  upon  the 
tide-water.     To  the  army  fo, 000, 000 — i.  .^   is  expended  on  a 


'*^  j 


APPENDIX. 


157 


military  academj',  ordnance  foundries,  four  artillery  regiments, 
engineers — all  upon  the  seaboard.  True  it  is  that  a  few  stingy 
details  of  cavalry  and  infantry  are  posted  in  shanties  upon  the 
western  frontier,  and  a  largess  of  half  a  million  sowed  among  the 
Indians.  But  the  single  fortress  of  "  Old  Point  Comfort,"  has 
cost  more  than  the  sum  total  of  western  military  structures. 
Thus  do  we  come  at  one  cardinal  item  of  maritime  power — 
$40,000,000  collected  annually  from  thirty  States,  of  which 
$39,000,000  is  annually  paid  out  to  thirteen  only!  Such  is  the 
income  which  maritime  policj/  secures  to  itself  by  taxation. 
Farther,  the  foreign  exports  and  imports  amount  to  $350,000,000 
per  annum — every  pound  of  this  leaves  our  shores,  or  comes  to 
us  in  the  ships  of  these  maritime  States,  and  is  stored  at  their 
seaports.  To  them,  then,  belongs  the  complete  and  prodigious 
monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade  of  America !  Is  it  wonderful, 
then,  that  a  policy  should  have  been  projected  with  foresight  and 
pursued  with  obstinate  will,  to  preserve  to  its  possessors  an  income 
so  splendid,  and  a  monopoly  of  such  infinite  profit  ?  With  these 
maritime  States,  too,  rests  the  political  mastery  of  the  continent, 
because  they  have  as  yet  always  had  the  majority  of  the  Houses 
of  Congress,  and  still  retain  that  in  th?  House  of  llepresentatives, 
in  spite  of  the  accession  of  Texas,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin,  which 
have  changed  the  Senate.  It  is  the  decennial  ci  nsus  of  1850 
which  will  give  in  the  thirty-third  Congress  a  majority  to  this 
great  indigenous  American  people,  residing  within  the  mountains 
in  the  great  basins  of  the  continent.  To  them  will  belong  the 
glorious  task  to  give  to  the  public  donuiiu  its  true,  patriotic  use, 
and  root  out  the  scorching  tyranny,  of  which  it  is  now  the 
engine.  To  make  taxation  and  the  expenditures  of  revenue 
national,  and  equal  among  the  States  and  people.  To  pay,  not 
grind,  the  pioneers.  To  reverse  the  uses  of  the  national  wilder- 
ness, so  that  its  glebe  shall  be  the  beneficent  fountain  of  great 
roads,  unlimited  agriculture,  population,  commerce,  and  rich 
States.  To  give  us  maritime  rivalry  and  a  new  seaboard.  To 
reconcile  the  white  man  and  the  Indian,  now  kept  by  infamous 
laws  in  a  state  of  implacable  feuds  and  mutual  piracy.  It  is 
very   wicked    that    our    Government,    being    llepublican,    has 


m 


158 


APPENDIX. 


ravished  republican  liberty  and  riij;hts  from  tlio  Indian,  and 
re-enacted  for  his  race  all  the  odious  inequalities  and  oppressions 

of  f(}((J<tltt)/. 

The  set  purpose  of  mnrlttmo.  poUci/  to  crush  progress  developed 
itself  with  the  admission  into  the  Union  of  Missouri,  a  State 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  and  salient  upon  the  routes  and  rivers 
towards  the  Pacific.  A  wall  of  Indians  was  planted  along  the 
frontier  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Hcd  river.  These  foreign 
nittiuim  I  were  planted  upon  soil  which  they  could  not  sell.  Com- 
merce was  prohibitr  1,  and  the  white  man  forbidden  entrance 
under  penitentiary  imprisonment.  The  army,  its  duties  reversed, 
was  withdrawn  from  danger,  and  planted  on  the  line  to  bayonet 
back  the  pioneers.  By  these  nefiirious  sophistries  it  was  designed 
to  fence  across  the  pioneer  army  in  front.  Ilush-money  to  the 
amount  of  SSr),000,000  was  paid  to  get  these  Indians  out  of  the 
older  States  for  the  use  of  the  frontier.  In  combination  with 
this  it  was  necessary  to  gain  a  maritime  extension,  and  the 
national  purse  was  opened.  A  couple  of  thousand  Indians  wore 
discovered  in  the  pocket  of  East  Florida — the  Seminales  and 
Mickasukies.  Ton  years  of  terrible  war,  during  which  100,000 
military  emigrants  and  $45,000,000  had  supplied  the  material 
of  a  State  to  balance  Michigan,  brought  about  a  treaty  allowing 
those  tribes  to  remain  amongst  the  Everglades !  During  this 
time  Indian  piracies  swarmed  over  the  Great  Plains  and  upon 
the  commercial  roads  to  3Icxico  and  the  Mountains.  Many 
hundred  whites  and  innumerable  Indians  fell  beneath  the  toma- 
hawk. Protection,  military  police,  and  revenge  were  denied  at 
Washington.  Not  a  dollar  was  here  disposable,  for  these  terrors 
of  the  wilderness  helped  the  policy  which  kept  it  no. 

The  rcannexation  of  Texas  was  consumnjated.  This  was  a 
maritime  State,  extending  the  shell  of  maritime  influence  farther 
round  the  continent.  Texas  owed  debts  —  some  87,000,000. 
Her  public  lands  were  speciously  left  to  her  to  pay  them — 
208,000,000   of    acres,    by    valuation    S2t>«'  .0,    to    pay 

S7,000,000  of  debts  !  !  Is  it,  then,  by  chatK-c  or  by  design  that 
the  great  domain  is  to  one  State  the  source  of  imperi:il  revenues 
and  advancement,  to  auuther  of  poverty  and  repression  ?     Ex- 


'  >s 


!    il 


APPENDIX. 


159 


press  laws  of  Congress  produce  these  extremes.  To  undovstand 
this  riglitly,  let  us  examine  it.  The  soil  of  Missouri  is  held  until 
sold  at  81.25  per  acre  Ly  the  central  government.  At  present 
$G00,000  per  annum  is  extracted  in  specie  through  the  land 
offices.  Thus  are  we  impoverished.  Two-thirds  of  our  soil  is 
withheld  from  State  taxation.  As  real  estate  is  the  suhstantiul 
source  of  State  revenue,  no  public  enterprises,  no  geological  sur- 
veys, no  internal  improvements,  not  even  highways  and  bridges, 
arc  possible  in  iMissouri.  Our  insignificant  State  and  county 
revenues  fall  with  onerous  weight  upon  less  than  one-third  of 
the  glebe  lands,  upon  personal  property,  and  licenses.  The  disas- 
trous wreck  sufl'ered  by  3Iississippi,  Illinois,  and  other  new 
States,  is  proof  enough  of  this. 

How  is  this  reversed  in  ToxTis?  An  immense  domain  fills  her 
treasury — .'^he  taxes  and  sells  for  taxes  at  will — unlimited  credit 
and  resources  invite  her  to  construct  the  greatest  works,  without 
danger.  By  reducing  and  graduating  the  price  of  lands,  she 
invites  forth  the  agriculturists  of  our  States,  and  warps  progress 
towards  the  Gulf.  On  the  pledge  of  her  public  lands  she  may 
herself  alone  procure  means  to  construct  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  I 
Across  the  western  frontier  is  unobstructed  access  to  the 
8,000,000  of  jMexicans !  Western  commerce,  then,  walled  in 
and  made  piracy  in  Missouri,  cruslied  and  persecuted,  must 
migi'ate  hence  to  Texas.  Again,  war  with  Mexico  arose.  This 
was  a  land  war  of  armies,  between  nation:-  having  a  conniion 
frontier  of  many  thousand  miles.  A  single  American  army  of 
30,000  cavalry  and  flying  artillery,  marching  by  the  magnificent 
road  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  passing  by  the  great  table  lands  to 
the  city  of  3Iexico,  and  sub.sisting  their  animals  of  food  and 
transportation  upon  the  pastures,  would  have  concjuored  and  held 
all  the  Mexican  States  in  eighteen  months.  Forty  millions  of 
expenditure  \v,)uld  have  brought  peace  on  our  own  dictation — 
great  roatis  for  commerce  would  have  been  established  for  ever, 
and  the  disbursements  returned  to  us  iu  the  ceded  territory.  A 
war  thus  economically  conducted,  however,  would  have  opened 
the  avenue  and  planted  central  States  to  the  new  seaboard.  IJut 
fleets  of  transports  must  plow  the  Gulf,  and  the  maritime  States 


hi 


I  til 


ii 


14 


IGO 


APPENDIX. 


of  Jacinto  and  Sierra  Maciro  extend  to  embrace  Tampico.  One 
hundred  thousand  soldiers  were  sent  to  the  impracticable  entrance 
by  Saltillo  and  Potosi — one  hundred  millions  expended  upon  this 
army,  which,  !sta>z;natin<^  upon  the  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
never  passed  beyond  them;  for  Saltillo  is  upon  an  affluent  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  only  250  miles  from  its  main  bank.  Thus 
was  profliii;ately  re-enacted  the  drama  of  the  State  of  Florida. 

The  maritime  ■policy  blends  the  double  object  of  blocking  up 
the  interior,  and  extending  the  seaboard  in  a  shell  around  the 
continent.  For  this  the  navy  is  enormously  increased  and  the 
army  emasculated.  Enterprises  in  the  central  States  are  marred, 
but  those  of  the  seaboard  sustained  directly  from  the  National 
Trcc-sury.     Of  this  let  us  take  a  reccut  illustration. 

A  proposition  was  submitted  to  the  Twenty-ninth  Congress, 
early  in  its  first  session  (1845-'46)  to  carry  onward  to  the  coast 
of  (California  and  Oregon,  and  to  Santa  Fc,  monthly,  the  mail 
which  comes  tri-weekly  to  our  city  of  Independence.  A  law 
authorizing  the  I'ostmaster-Goncral  to  let  the  contract  for  such 
an  extended  mail  route  to  the  lowest  bidder,  in  the  ordinary  way, 
was  alone  required.  Contractors  were  ready  to  execute  the  whole 
undertaking  for  $50,000  per  annum,  carrying  the  mails  in  fifteen 
days,  making  the  time  from  ocean  to  ocean  twenty-five  days.  This 
proposition,  admirable  for  its  practicability,  its  economy  in  time 
and  cost,  was  belabored  by  orators  and  suppressed.  To  this  hour 
all  overland  mails  are  prohibited  by  statute.  At  this  same  session 
of  this  same  Corgiess,  and  vnder  the  promptings  of  these  orators, 
the  Governmei  t  ^'as  by  statute,  made  the  partner  with  ship- 
building companies  of  New  York  city.  To  construct  four  mail 
steamers,  the  sun  of  $1,250,000  was  advanced  to  these  compa- 
nies, to  whom  was  ,!so  given  the  monopoly  of  future  government 
transportation  for  ttn  ye.irs.  The  transportation  of  our  mails 
through  the  Isthmus  is  confided  to  the  Spaniards  of  New 
Granada !  All  this  enormous  expenditure  has  produced  at  the 
end  of  four  years,  an  uncertain  monthly  mail,  outside  of  our 
country,  and  exposed  to  the  hostilities  of  the  whole  world,  which 
traverses  9000  miles  of  sterile  ocean  in  fifty  days !  In  the 
interval  the  contracts  have  been  doubled  in  amount  by  doubling 


APPENDIX. 


161 


the  size  and  cost  of  the  ships.  It  is  a  condition  of  these  con- 
tracts that  these  "  mail  steamers"  may  bo  appraised  and  pur- 
chased by  Government  for  the  Navy.  Thus  is  tlie  Navy  chaules- 
tiiicli/  increased  by  eij^ht  or  a  dozen  war  stciimers. 

Thus,  whilst  we  may  transport  the  domestic  mails  between  our 
distant  people  and  seaboards  through  the  heart  of  our  territories, 
every  inch  upon  our  own  soil,  and  1000  miles  from  any  foreign 
foe  or  frontier — whilst  this  can  bo  done  and  is  offered  to  be  done, 
by  our  citizens,  for  prices  at  which  the  mails  will  yield  remune- 
rating revenues — whilst  this  admits  of  an  increase  to  daily  mails 
at  any  time,  and  a  reduction  of  time  to  one-half — whilst  this 
allows  of  innumerable  way  mails,  telegraphs,  and  the  most  inti- 
mate domestic  intercourse — involves  neither  increase  of  miliiary 
force  nor  expenditures  by  sea  or  land,  and  avoids  the  possibility 
of  foreign  interference  or  molestation — opening  roads  and  crowd- 
ing thera  with  population  and  settlements — concentrating  to  the 
seaport  where  it  reaches  the  Pacific,  the  American  shipping  and 
business  on  that  ocean,  at  once  creating  a  great  American  empo- 
rium. Instead  of  all  this,  which  is  sensible  and  natural,  and 
understood  by  our  people,  whoso  cardinal  rljht  it  is  to  have  the 
circulation  of  their  domestic  thoughts  and  business  through  home 
channels  which  are  short,  safe,  and  expeditious !  Yes,  instead 
of  this,  we  are  taxed  millions,  to  have  our  letters  sent  9000  miles 
in  fifty  days,  under  the  equator,  by  sea,  through  foreign  nations, 
exposed  to  delay,  dangers,  and  destruction  in  every  form,  ruffling 
the  jealousies  of  rival  nations,  and  exposed  to  their  cannon — 
and  all  this  to  fill  the  maws  of  maritime  speculators  and  political 
ambition. 

Such  are  a  few  examples  of  a  policy  hourly  influencing  our 
glorious  State  for  weal  or  woe,  whose  effect  upon  you,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  fills  me  with  the  most  puzzling  astonishment.  You  drop 
your  own  interests  with  facility  when  told  they  are  diflScult  and 
inexpedient,  and  stand  at  ease,  whilst  rival  enterprises,  planned 
to  destroy  you,  and  a  thousand  times  more  diflBcult,  costly,  and 
fanciful,  are  finished  completely  ! 

Mr.  Chairman,  eloquence  is  not  nurtured  in  the  depths  of  the 
silent  wilderness,  and  there  have  I  passed  my  youth.     D;d  I 


I    } 

1 1- • 


1G2 


AITENDIX. 


J        > 


possess  those  pracos  of  lanf^uago  and  [lolishod  elocution,  which 
many  youths,  uiy  ootcinporarifs,  traiuoil  in  the  courts  and  lialLs 
of  K'ij;isl;itioa,  ouj^ht  to  do,  tlion  hliould  my  voice  .sound  lil<(!  the 
ra/ipd  bout  on  John  dc  Zitzka'.s  .skin,  into  every  cabin  of  our 
glorious  State,  to  call  forth  her  citizens,  and,  rou.sed  from  their 
isirioble  apathy,  animate  tlieiu  to  resunie  their  .stolen  rii^hts,  and 
vindicate  their  crippled  honor.  For  this  apathy  is  towards  this 
our  State  and  our  nation,  the  crime  of  the  sentiuel  slumbering  on 
his  post. 

The  configuration  of  the  Sierra  iMadro  (the  Mother  Mountain 
of  the  world)  is  transcondently  massive  and  sublime.  Rising 
from  a  basement  whuse  roots  spread  out  two  thousand  miles  and 
more,  its  crest  splits  almost  centrally  the  Northern  cuntiiumt, 
and  divides  its  waters  to  the  two  oceans.  Novel  terms  have  been 
introduced  to  define  its  characteristics.  J/c.w,  expresses  the  level 
plateaux  of  its  summits,  ('anon,  the  gorges  rent  in  its  slopes 
by  the  de.'^cending  rivers,  luifr,  the  conical  mountains  isolated 
and  trimmed  into  .'^ymmetriual  peaks  by  atmospheric  corrosion. 
Everybody  has  seen  the  card  houses  built  by  children  in  the 
nursery.  Suppose  three  of  these  in  a  row,  having  a  second  story 
over  the  centre  :  this  toy  familiarly  delineates  a  transverse  section 
of  the  Sierra  jNIadre.  This  upper  story  represents  the  central, 
primary  me.^i,  of  the  Cordillera — it'^  summit  a  great  plain,  de- 
scending on  both  flanks  by  a  perpendicular  wall  of  OOOU  feet  to 
the  level  of  the  second  7)ii'sa  or  steppe.  Towards  the  west  the 
second  mesa  lills  the  whole  space  to  the  Andes,  whose  farther 
side  descends  abruptly  to  the  tide  level  of  the  I'acific.  This  is 
agjiin  wliat  has  been  before  described  at  length  as  the  Gukat 
Taislk  Lands.  l]ut  towards  the  last,  the  second  mesa  forms  a 
l'ie(huont,  rent  into  peaks  by  the  fissures  of  innumerable  streams. 
1'his  Piedmont,  called  by  us  the  Black  Hills,  masks  the  front  of 
the  Sierra  Madre,  from  end  to  end.  So  completely  is  it  torn  and 
rent  by  the  perplexity  of  watercourses,  that  patches  alone  are  left 
to  define  the  original  plateau.  These  arc  the  eastern  envelope 
of  the  basin  of  the  Yellowstone,  the  Laramie  plain  (between  the 
IMattos),  the  ilatone  and  the  Llano  Estacado  of  Texas.  iJeneath 
tills  the  third  mesa  (or  steppe),  is  that  superlative  region,  the 


I  l'' 


APPENDIX. 


168 


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GuKAT  PnAiaiE  PriAiNH,  wlioso  gontlo  slopo  forms  a  ^laois  to 
the  Gulf  through  Tttxus,  and  in  front  to  the  trough  funned  by 
the  IMisHissippi  river  from  Itiisca  Jiuko  to  the  liali/.o.  Noithoi 
arc  the  other  three  basins  of  the  St.  liawreiieo,  Hudson's  Hay, 
and  iMc'K(!nzic  anytliing  else  but  prulutigutiuns  of  tliis  same 
glacis,  sloping  towards  the  cast  and  north. 

It  is  this  vastucss  of  geographical  conliguratioii  which  leads 
tho  fflaiirc  of  the  cngiuc(!r  with  unerring  certainty  to  that  line 
of  natural  grades  from  ocean  to  ocean,  tho  discovery  of  which 
mankind  now  awaits  with  the  keenest  (Miriosity,  and  alon'^  which 
the  American  nation  is  resolved  to  construct  the  consumnialc  work 
of  art — the  Asiatic  and  European  Railway. 

Advancing  north  along  the  conib  of  tho  Sierra  IMadrc  from 
below  3Iesico,  you  fiiul  at  the  sources  of  the  Platte  (Sweetwater) 
a  wide  gap,  where,  the  high  mesa  suddenly  giving  out  for  the 
space  of  forty  miles,  the  second  mesa  passes  through  from  east  to 
west,  the  continued  watcr-ridgo  being  scarcely  perceptible  amongst 
its  gentle  undulations.  This  is  the  South  Pass.  It  is  so  named 
as  being  the  inost  southern  pass,  to  which  you  may  ascend  by  an 
affluent  of  tho  Atlantic  and  step  immediately  over  on  to  a  stream 
descending  directly  to  the  Pacitic.  This  name  is  as  ancient  as 
the  pass  itself.  Into  it  concentrate  the  groat  trails  of  the  buffalo, 
geographers  and  road  makers  by  instinct,  before  tho  coming  of 
man.  The  Indian,  the  Mexican,  and  the  American,  successors 
of  one  another,  have  not  improved  or  deflected  from  the  instincts 
of  the  buffalo,  nor  will  they  whilst  the  mountains  last  in  their 
present  unshattercd  bulk.  The  South  Pass  has  a  towering 
grandeur,  in  keeping  with  the  rivers  between  which  it  is  the 
avenue  (the  Mis.souri,  tho  Colorado,  and  the  Columbia),  all  of 
which  issuing  from  the  wall  of  the  Wind  River  Mountain,  come 
out  of  it  on  to  the  Second  Mesa,  at  the  udme  level,  and  into  which 
they  immediately  commence  burrowing  their  canons  of  descent 
to  the  seas. 

Here  then  is  the  route,  the  Southern  route,  of  tho  National 
Railroad,  ascending  by  the  water-grade  of  the  Platte  on  to  the 
the  second  mesa,  where  it  forms  the  summit,  following  the 


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APPENDIX. 


bia  (Snake  river),  and  descending  its  water-grade  clear  out  to  tha 
Pacific.  The  distance  from  the  I'lutto  to  the  Columbia  has  not 
been  accurately  ascertained,  though  by  the  present  wagon  road, 
which  crosses  a  corner  of  the  Salt  Basin,  it  is  less  than  300  miles. 
Here  is  that  double  inclined  plane,  to  find  which  has  been  the 
first  essential  in  every  work  of  art  existing  in  the  world.  There 
is  none  sordh  of  this,  because  everywhere  the  basins  of  the  Table 
Lands  overlap  and  envelope  one  another,  so  that  the  passes  lead 
merely  from  one  of  these  into  another ;  nor  are  there  any  natural 
tunnels  through  the  precipitous  walls  of  the  Andes,  and  between 
the  basins.  The  Columbia,  running  across  the  Table  Lands  from 
east  to  west,  distributes  the  descent  of  8500  feet,  equally  ulong 
its  course  of  1200  miles,  and  tunnels  the  great  ranges  of  Blue 
Mountains  and  the  Andes.  This  whole  course  of  the  river  is  a 
continuity  of  rapids  having  three  falls — the  American  falls  of  oO 
feet  at  Portnoeuf,  the  Salmon  falls  of  45  feet  200  miles  below, 
and  the  Chuttes  of  12  feet  near  the  Dalles.  This  river-grade  is 
then  as  rapid  as  the  descent  to  be  accomplished  will  admit  of; 
for,  distributed  into  long  levels  and  steep  grades,  it  would  im- 
mensely impair  the  utility  of  the  whole  work,  and  fatally  impede 
transportation.  The  great  Colorado  runs  diagonally  across  the 
Table  L.\nds,  debouching  into  the  Gulf  of  California;  but  has 
its  course  and  those  of  its  great  affluents,  parallel  with  the  moun- 
tain ranges,  which  are  scored  with  unfathomed  caiions,  perplexing 
the  traveller  with  an  infinity  of  impassable  ridges,  amongst  which 
the  watercourses  are  embowelled.  North  of  the  South  Pass, 
however,  exist  many  single  passes  where  the  higher  branches  of 
the  Missouri  and  Columbia  interlock.  These  circuitous  routes 
have  all  the  same  termini  as  that  of  the  South  Pass,  for  they 
also  descend  the  same  two  rivers  to  the  seas.  Thus  between  the 
South  Pass  and  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  there  exists  no  rail- 
road route,  owing  to  the  longitudinal  courses  of  the  rivers,  the 
complexity  of  the  basins,  and  the  double  barrier  of  primary 
mountain  chains.  To  the  north,  other  passes  exist,  which  future 
generations  may  develope,  and  on  which  navigation  may  be  used 
for  four-fifths  of  the  whole  distance.  True  it  is  that  potential 
fashion  now  exalts  the  little  maritime  basin  of  California,  San 


APPENDIX. 


165 


Francisco  Bay,  into  the  haven  of  hope  and  fortr.ne  of  the  new 
seaboard,  whilst  the  sublime  basin  of  the  Columbia,  and  its  mn<^. 
nificent  river  harbor,  are  banished  from  public  favor.  The  basin 
of  San  Francisco  is  small,  tropical  in  climate,  sterile,  and  the 
most  isolated  spot,  to  reach  from  the  interior,  on  the  whole  coast 
of  the  Pacific.  No  great  river  gives  it  access  to  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  from  which  it  is  cut  off  by  the  basins  of  the  Salt  Lake, 
the  Colorado,  and  the  Del  Norte,  oviriapping  each  other.  The 
Columbia  is  larger  than  the  Danube,  and  equal  to  the  Ganges. 
In  size,  climate,  agricultural  excellence,  capacity  for  popuhition, 
and  its  wonderful  circular  configuration,  the  basin  of  the  Colum- 
bia surpasses  both  of  these  others.  The  mouth  of  the  Columbia, 
a  salient  point  upon  the  open  coast,  more  than  auy  other  central 
and  convenient  to  the  whole  North  Pacific  and  Asia,  is  in  size^ 
depth  of  water,  safety  and  facility  of  ingress  or  egress,  equal  to 
San  Francisco.  As  the  mouth  of  the  greatest  river  descending 
from  our  continent  into  the  Pacific,  it  is  infinitely  before  it.  It 
is  eight  degrees  south  of  Liverpool,  having  the  climate  of  Bor- 
deaux, Marseilles,  or  Savannah.  Why  is  not  the  deep  sea  navi- 
gation concentrated  at  Norfolk  or  Hampton  Roads,  the  finest 
harbor  of  the  whole  Atlantic  ?  Why  rather  is  it  found  at  New 
York  and  New  Orleans,  accessible  only  through  every  danger 
that  can  menace  shipping?  W^hy,  because  the  former  is  the 
outlet  of  the  basin  of  th'i  St.  Lawrence,  the  latter  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  shipping  of  commerce  goes  to  where  cargoes  can  be 
found.  Less  than  fifty  years  ago  /dshion  pronounced  the  little 
ravines  of  James'  river  and  the  Connecticut  the  proud  spots  of 
America,  and  held  the  great  uninhabitable  wastes  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  its  unnavigated  streams  m  worthy  only  to  balance  cod 
JikU!  This  same  splenetic  spirit  ot'/a.s;\;'i>t  now  manufactures  a 
similarly  ridiculous  misdirection  for  the  energy  of  the  pioneers, 
by  sett.ng  up  what  the  geologist  would  call  i  "pot  hole  of  the 
Andes,"  against  the  grand  Columbia.  Comni  rce,  provident  like 
every  other  department  of  industry,  makes  herself  harbors  with 
charts,  pilots,  buoys,  and  beacons.  The  shallowest  channel  of 
the  Columbia  has  thirty-five  feet  water — the  deepest  of  New 
York,  twenty-nine. 


I;i  I. 


■|:   I 


M 


U 


166 


APPENDIX. 


Climate  distinctly  controls  the  mi;;;rations  of  the  human  race, 
which  hus  steadily  adhered  to  an  isothermal  line  around  the  world. 
The  extremely  mild  climate  of  our  western  seahoard  is  only  the 
consequence  of  the  same  great  laws  of  nature  which  operate  in 
Western  Europe.  These  arc  the  regular  and  fixed  ordinances  of 
the  code  of  nature,  to  which  the  njigrations  of  man,  in  common 
with  the  animal,  yield  an  instinctive  obedience.  Within  the 
torrid  zone  and  up  to  30°  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  blow  the 
trade  winds  and  variahlcx,  constantly  from  the  east  and  north- 
east all  around  the  world,  but  the  upper  halves  of  elliptical  orbits 
followed  by  the  winds  lie  in  the  temperate  zone,  from  35°  to  60°, 
within  which  the  winds  flow  constantly  from  the  west  and  south- 
west all  around  the  world.  These  winds  reach  the  western 
goasis  of  America  and  Europe  after  traversing  the  expanse  of  the 
Pacific  and  Atlantic  Oceans.  Warmed  to  the  same  temperature 
as  these  oceans,  they  impart  again  this  same  mild  atmosphere  to 
the  maritime  fronts  of  the  continents  which  receive  them.  These 
same  winds,  passing  onward  over  great  extensions  of  continent  of 
low  tempeniture,  covered  with  snow,  or  frozen  during  winter, 
often  warped  upward  by  mountain  ranges,  becoming  exhausted 
of  their  warmth,  have  upon  the  eastern  portijiis  of  both  hemis- 
pheres an  exactly  opposite  effect  upon  the  climate.  Hence  the 
variant  temperature  of  New  York  and  Li.sbon,  which  face  one 
another  on  the  ojipositc  coasts  of  the  Atlantic — of  Pekin  and  San 
Francisco,  similarly  opposite  upon  the  I'acific.  At  San  Francisco 
and  Lisbon  the  seasons  are  but  modulations  of  one  continuous 
sumviiei'.  At  New  York  and  Pekin,  winter  suspends  vegetation 
during  seven  months,  whilst  ice  and  snow  bridge  the  land  and 
waters.  These  four  cities  are  all  close  upon  the  same  parallel  of 
latitude,  the  40th  degree. 

It  is  here  manifest  how  in  Asia,  the  masses  of  population  lie 
below  the  40lh°,  in  Europe  above  and  again  (so  far)  in  America, 
curving  downward  on  the  eastern  fane  of  our  continent,  to  rise 
again  to  the  north  upon  the  warm  coast  of  the  Pacific.  Thua 
has  the  zodiac  of  nations,  our  own  nation  similarly  with  the  rest, 
pursued  a  serpentine  line  of  equal  temperature,  retaining  all 
around  the  world  similar  employments,  similar  industrial  pursuits, 


APPENDIX. 


167 


'  Mi 


similar  food  and  clothing,  requiring  similarity  of  cliniato,  and 
recoiling  alike  from  the  torrid  and  the  arctic  zones. 

The  scientific  men  of  the  nation  oppose  the  National  Railroad 
— so  did  those  of  Europe  persecute  Galileo  and  Columbus. 
Science,  like  the  army  and  navy,  is  fed  from  the  national  reve- 
nues, which  maritime  policy  distributes  to  all  that  serve  its  ends. 
Science  is  rare ;  the  spurious  (juackcry  of  science  redundant.  It 
is  not  the  scientific  doctors  of  the  schools,  the  bureaux  and  mili- 
tary wings  of  government,  that  have  hewed  out  this  republican 
empire  from  the  wilderness.  This  has  been  reared  by  the  gonuiLO 
heroism  and  sublime  instincts  of  the  pioneer  army,  unpaid,  un- 
blessed, nay  scoffed  and  loaded  with  burdens  by  government  and 
its  swarm  of  dependants.  To  bridle  progrkss  has  been  the  policy 
of  thirty  years.  To  keep  the  people  out  of  the  wilderness.  To 
refuse  Territorial  governments,  and  prevent  Territories  from 
becoming  States.  At  this  moment  scientific  men  are  especially 
busy  distracting  us  with  multitudinious  routes  and  invented  diffi- 
culties, devised  to  perplex  and  scatter  the  energies  of  the  citizens, 
whose  unanimous  resolve  it  is  to  plough  open  a  great  central 
trail  to  the  Pacific.  Science  cannot  unmake  the  eternal  ordinances 
of  nature,  and  reset  the  universe  to  suit  local  fancies  and  idle 
fashion.  It  is  the  humble  duty  of  science  to  investigate  nt  iure 
as  she  is,  and  promulgate  the  truths  discoverable  for  the  guidance 
of  governments  and  men. 

Tbc  experienno  gained  from  the  grct  works  constructed  by 
the  last  generation,  in  digging  through  the  Alleghanics  routes 
for  commerce  to  the  Atlantic,  settles  for  us  the  rules  that  shall 
guide  M.S  across  the  Sierra  Madre  to  the  Pacific.  In  1818  the  State 
of  New  York  cut  through  the  low  and  narrow  ridge  between 
Rome  and  Syracuse,  the  former  on  an  affluent  of  the  Hudson,  the 
latter  of  Lake  Ontario.  Thus  the  first  expenditures,  perforating 
the  d'viding  mountain,  let  through  that  infant  commerce,  which 
in  thirty  years  has  grown  to  such  a  grandeur  of  quantity  and  profit, 
that  this  great  thoroughfare  is  itself  quadrupled  in  capacity  and 
lengthened  out  to  Montreal,  to  Boston,  to  New  York  city  and 
into  Pennsylvania,  towards  the  east.  Westward,  it  reaches 
through  Ohio  and  Indiana  to  the  Ohio  river,  and  by  the  Illinois 


•  <i 


.  1] 


;:i] 


■;;!1 


1G8 


APl'ENDIX. 


and  Wifconsin  rivers  to  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi.  What 
the  single  State  of  New  York,  of  1,200,000  population,  accom- 
plished by  her  own  intrinsic  bravery  and  resources,  undismayed 
by  ridicule  and  unappallod  by  the  then  experimental  character  of 
such  works  in  a  republic  and  upon  our  continent : — just  such  a 
work  now  invites  the  national  bravery,  power,  and  wealth  of  thi3 
imperial  republic  ;  nanioly :  to  lay,  over  the  dividing  barrier  of 
the  Sierra  Madre,  along  the  floor  of  its  natural  tunnel  at  the 
South  Pass,  an  iron  pnthivny,  which,  descending  the  grades  of 
the  Platte  and  Columbia  to  the  liighest  points  of  navigation,  shall 
let  through  the  first  infant  stream  of  that  supreme  Oriental  com- 
merce, whose  annually  expanding  flood  will,  during  our  generation, 
elongate  its  arms  and  fingers  through  all  i\\i  States  and  to  every 
harbor  of  the  two  seaboards. 

Climate,  the  configuration  of  the  continent,  the  location  of  our 
States  and  people,  the  isothermal  line  of  progress,  the  high  lati- 
tudes of  the  ultra-oceanic  nations  here  locate  the  "  National  Rail- 
road." The  climate  is  hero  most  favorable,  because  the  whole 
region  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Columbia,  far  removed  from  any 
ocean,  is  so  dry  as  to  be  free  from  rains  in  summer  and  snows  in 
Winter.  Thus  the  snows  within  the  South  Pass  itself  are  not  so 
deep  as  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  or  between  Boston  and  BufiFalo. 
Upon  the  Wind  River  Mountain  there  is  ro  snow  in  summer,  at 
an  altitude  where  it  is  perpetual  on  the  Andes  beneath  the  equa- 
tor and  near  the  ocean  !  On  the  Table  Lands  rain  and  snow  are 
so  rare  that  they  may  be  said  never  to  occur.  This  obstruction, 
then,  stated  on  theory  to  be  fatal,  has  no  existence — whilst  this 
route  pursuing  great  rivers  all  the  way  has  abundance  of  water. 
Mineral  coal  is  abundant  from  end  to  end.  Lumber  and  rock 
infinite  in  quantity  and  convenient  in  position. 

It  is,  then,  I  repeat,  through  the  heart  of  our  Territories,  our 
population,  our  States,  our  farms  and  habitations,  that  we  need 
this  broad  current  of  commerce.  Where  passengers  and  cargo 
may,  at  any  time  or  place,  embark  upon  or  leave  the  vehicles  of 
transportation.  It  is  foul  treason  to  banish  it  from  the  land,  from 
among  the  people,  to  force  it  on  to  the  barren  ocean,  outside  of 
society,  through  furoign  nations,  into  the  torrid  boats  and  along 


APPENDIX. 


169 


solitary  circuitous  routes,  imprisoned  for  mouths  in  great  ships. 
This  central  railroad  is  an  essential  domestic  institution,  more 
powerful  and  permanent  than  law,  or  popular  consent,  to  thor- 
oughly complete  the  great  systems  of  fluvial  arteries  which  fra- 
ternize us  into  one  people ;  to  bind  the  two  seaboards  to  this  one 
nation,  like  ears  to  the  human  head;  to  radicate  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Union  so  broad  and  deep,  and  render  its  structure  so 
solid,  that  no  possible  force  or  stratagem  can  shake  its  permanence ; 
and  to  secure  such  scope  and  space  to  progress,  that  prosperity 
and  ecjuality  shall  never  be  impaired  or  chafe  for  want  of  room. 

What,  sirs,  are  these  populous  empires  of  Japan  and  China, 
now  become  our  neighbors  ?  They  are  the  most  ancient,  the  most 
highly  civilized,  the  most  polished  of  the  earth.  It  was  from 
Sinim  (China)  that  the  Judean  king  Solomon  imported  the 
architects,  the  mechanics,  the  furniture  of  his  gorgeous  temple. 
Hence,  the  Tyrians  brought  tapestry,  carpets,  shawls  of  wool,  cotton 
and  silk  fabrics,  wares  of  porcelain  and  metals,  dyes,  gums,  and 
spices,  jewels  polished  and  set.  Hence,  came  the  climax  of  all 
human  inventions,  letters  and  fig-urcs,  which  fix  language  and 
numbers,  making  them  eternal;  astronomy,  arithmetic,  algebra, 
decimals,  chemistry,  printing,  navigation,  agriculture,  and  horti- 
culture. All  these,  erroneously  ascribed  as  the  inventions  of  the 
Arabs  or  to  the  exiles  of  Constantinople,  who  brought  them  into 
Western  Europe,  are  the  creations  of  Oriental  genius  and  study. 
Tea,  sugar,  the  peach  produced  from  the  wild  almond,  the  orange 
from  the  sour  lime,  the  apple  from  the  crab,  the  fruits,  the 
flowers,  the  vegetables  of  our  gardens,  are  the  creations  of  Chinese 
horticultural  science.  The  horse,  cattle,  the  swine  and  poul- 
try of  our  farms,  come  to  us  from  thence.  The  culture  of  the 
cereal  grains,  wheat,  rice,  barley-bread,  wine,  the  olive  and  silk, 
have  come  to  us  from  the  farthest  Orient.  Hence  also  came 
gunpowder,  the  magnetic  needle,  and  calomel.  The  paints,  varnish, 
and  tools  of  the  art  have  come,  and  the  remedies  used  in  phar- 
macy. 

Our  historic  records,  commencing  with  the  arrival  of  progres- 
sive civilization  at  the  extremity  of  the  Mediterranean,  relate 
from  tradition  the  antique  empire  of  Bacchus  and  the  religion  of 


U 


■  >i 


]••. 


170 


APPENDIX. 


Zoroaster  i;pon  the  Cangcs  and  the  Indus.  The  Chaldeans  of 
the  Pornian  Sea  folhnvcd.  Fleets  canio  from  the  extreme  Orient 
into  the  lieiigal  Sea,  the  Persian  (lulf,  and  the  lied  Seaj — and 
caravans  overland  by  the  O.xus  and  the  Ca.«ipian  brought  the 
camel,  t  Jo  horse,  cattle,  manufactured  wool,  silks,  cotton,  and 
metals,  agriculture,  commerce,  and  coin.  Empires  expanding 
westward  along  the  Canges,  the  Euphrates,  and  the  Nile,  reached 
to  the  Mediterranean  and  Enxine.  From  Egypt,  Phenioia,  and 
Colchis  (Trebisond),  sprung  European  Greece.  Such  as  Progress 
is  to-day,  the  same  has  it  been  for  ten  thousand  years.  It  is  the 
stream  of  the  human  race  flowing  from  the  east  to  the  west, 
impelled  by  the  same  divine  instinct  that  pervades  creation.  By 
this  track  comes  the  sun  diurnally  to  cheer  the  world.  Thus 
come  the  tides  of  men  and  of  the  waters,  learning,  law,  religion, 
the  plague,  the  small-pox,  and  the  cholera.  The  sources  of  life 
and  happiness — the  pestilence  that  .saddens  both.  These  empires 
of  which  wo  have  spoken  have  left  upon  the  ground  they  occu- 
pied their  names,  political  society,  their  organized  systems  of 
government  and  religion.  Does  not  society  then,  once  founded 
become  perennial  ?  It  is  within  a  belt  of  the  earth  straddling 
the  40th°  of  north  latitude  that  the  greatest  mass  of  land  sur- 
rounds the  world,  and  where  the  continents  most  nearly  approach. 
Within  this  belt  (from  30°  to  50°)  four-fifths  of  the  human  race 
is  assembled,  and  here  the  civilized  nations,  of  whom  wo  possess 
any  history,  have  succeeded  one  another,  commencing  at  the  far- 
thest extremity  of  Asia,  and  forming  a  zodiac  towards  the  setting 
sun.  This  succession  has  flowed  onward  in  an  even  course, 
undulating  along  an  isothermal  line,  until  in  our  time  the  ring  is 
about  to  clise  around  the  earth's  circumference,  by  the  arrival 
of  the  American  Nation  on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  which  looks 
over  on  to  Asia.  In  this  age  and  in  this  march  of  human  race, 
as  elsewhere,  the  bold,  energetic,  and  indomitable,  the  picked 
spirits  of  the  world  lead  the  van,  and  such  is  the  pioneer  army. 

What  means  that  expression  in  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happmess  ?"  What 
brought  the  Cavaliers  to  Virginia  in  1608  ?  It  was  "  the  pursuit 
of  happiness."    What  animated  the  Pilgrims  to  endure  the  rigors 


AI'I'F.iNDIX. 


171 


of  Plymouth  Uook  ?  AVliy,  "the  pursviit  of  hnpplncss."  What 
sought  IJooiio  aiul  his  couipanion.s  plunging  a  tliousarul  mlloH  into 
tho  wilderness?  This  same  "  pursuit  of  happiness."  What  secret 
motive  now  brings  foreigners  to  our  shores,  and  impels  our  own 
citizens  onward  to  the  Pacitic?  Again,  it  is  "the  pursuit  of  hap- 
piness." Proyiraa,  then,  is  one  of  the  inimortal  lUOiiTS  sanctified 
in  the  Charter  of  human  Liberty.  Why,  then,  is  advent  into 
the  wilderness,  the  field  for  the  discontented,  the  oppressed,  tho 
needy,  the  restless,  the  ambitious,  and  tho  virtuous,  thus  closed 
by  Ji  policy  at  once  sinister,  nefarious,  and  unconstitutional? 
Unquiet  for  our  sacred  Union  is  this  present  time,  when  political 
power,  about  to  cross  the  Alleghanies,  see-saws  on  their  crests, 
counting  tho  days  that  precede  her  eternal  transit  over  them ! 
It  is  by  tho  rapid  propagation  of  new  States,  the  immediate 
occupation  of  the  broad  platform  of  the  continent,  the  aggregation 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Asiatic  commerce,  that  inquietude  will 
be  swallowed  up,  and  the  murmurs  of  discontent  lost  in  the 
onward  sound  of  advancement.  Discontent,  distanced,  will  die 
out.  The  immense  wants  of  the  Pacific  will  draw  off,  over  the 
Western  outlets,  the  ovcrteeming  crops  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
Thus  will  the  present  seaboard  States  resume  again  their  once 
profitable  monopoly  of  the  European  market,  relieved  from  tho 
competition  of  the  interior  States.  The  cotton  and  rice  culture 
of  Georgia  and  tho  Carolinas  will  revive.  The  tobacco  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Maryland  will  again  alone  reach  Europe.  Ships  with- 
drawn from  tho  Northern  States  to  tho  Pacific,  will  regenerate 
the  noble  business  of  nautical  construction  in  New  England  and 
New  York.  The  established  domestic  manufactures  of  clothing 
and  metals  will  find,  in  our  great  home  extension,  that  protection 
which  they  in  vain  seek  to  create  by  unequal  legislation,  nocuous 
and  impracticable  in  our  present  incomplete  and  unbalanced 
geographical  form.  Thus  calmly  weighed  and  liberally  appre- 
ciated, does  this  great  Central  Railroad  minister  to  the  interests, 
and  invito  the  advocacy  and  co-operation  of  every  section  of  our 
territory,  and  every  citizen  of  our  common  country. 

Tho  exclusion  of  foreigners  from  Japan,  China,  and  Cochin 
China  is  not  then  an  institution  of  barbarism,  but  a  domestic 

16 


\:l 


'    I 
■i\\ 


m 


172 


APPENDIX. 


tariff  of  protection.  It  is  designed,  like  tho  combination  of 
Christian  nations  against  piracy,  to  protect  their  nationality  and 
freedom  against  those  fierce  military  nations  of  Nouthmkn,  who 
for  twenty  centuries  have  rent  Europe  and  Western  Asia  with 
perpetual  massacre ;  who  ransack  all  tho  seas  in  their  war  ships : 
store  tho  rocks  of  tho  ocean  with  munitions  of  war,  crush  tho 
millions  of  India  with  cannon  and  the  bayonet :  plunder  Africa 
of  a  million  annually  of  her  swarthy  children  to  rot  in  foreign 
slavery :  and  even  exterminate  one  another  in  deadly  strife  when 
they  meet  amongst  the  antipodes,  in  the  solitudes  of  the  Southern 
Ocean.  When,  however,  oiw  diplomacy  shall  receive  a  wise 
direction — when  our  foolish  nepotism  to  Europe  shall  be  run  out 
— when  men  of  sense,  such  as  Franklin  was  of  old,  shall  sail  over 
from  Astoria  to  Pekin,  and  there  converse,  with  the  Oriental 
Court,  of  llepublican  America  as  she  is — when  her  civic  growth 
and  pacific  policy  shall  be  there  understood — when  the  central 
position  of  our  continent  shall  be  known,  forming  tho  avenue  for 
trade  and  barrier  against  war  with  the  Northmen  of  Europe — 
then  will  mutual  confidence  between  these,  the  oldest  and 
youngest  of  the  human  family,  the  extremes  mot,  show  itself  in 
the  graces  of  a  free  commerce,  and  tho  ties  of  an  harmonious 
fraternity.  It  is  for  you  especially,  people  of  Missouri,  to  seek 
these  new  relations  with  the  Oriental  people,  with  the  zeal  of 
faith  and  the  fixed  will  of  conviction.  It  is  arch  mockery  for  us 
to  be  duped  by  the  flippant  caricatures  of  these  ancient  and 
polished  Asiatics,  invented  by  British  envy  to  mislead  us,  and 
fed  out  to  us  by  the  British  press  to  cloak  sinister  designs  of 
subjugation  and  world-wide  plunder.  Kather  let  us  take  alarm 
at  the  tone  and  source  of  this  monstrous  flood  of  calumny,  and 
know  that  a  direct  inspection  for  ourselves  will  reveal  to  us  in 
Asia  empires  of  people  illustrious  for  their  antique  civilization, 
rendered  enduring  and  perfect  by  political  equality,  and  wise 
civic  institutions,  winnowed  and  renovated  during  fifty  centuries 
of  uninterrupted  experience — amongst  whom  the  science  and  art 
of  war,  indeed,  are  decayed  from  long  disuse,  but  all  useful 
sciences  highly  perfected — with  whom  government  has  reached 
the  mildest  form  of  patriarchal  despotism,  eliminating  political 


APPilNDIX. 


173 


priestcraft  and  the  dissciiiiii.ntcd  tyranny  of  a  patrician  order — 
who  have  so  admirably  refined  and  perfected  nmnioipal  govern- 
ment and  police,  that  400,000,000  of  population  (double  that  of 
all  Europe)  are  united  under  one  harmonious  political  .system  in 
concord  and  trancjuillity. 

It  is  among  these  swarming  hives  of  ingenious  people  that  we 
will  find  markets  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  our  own  prolific 
industry.     This  is  not  now  the  ease  in  Europe.     The  Europeans 
are  in  all  things  our  rivals  and  competitors.     Are  we  agricultu- 
rists ?     So  are  they,  and  wall  ofi"  our  competition  with  corn-law 
tariffs.     Are  we  miners  and  manufacturers?     So  are  they,  and 
overtop  us  by  abundance  of  labor  and  capital.     Arc  we  ship- 
owners ?      So   are   they,   having   an   immense   marine   cheaply 
navigated.     They  conquer   and   colonize  foreign   countries,  of 
whose  trade  they  make  monopolies !     They  are  northern  nations, 
whose  clothing  is  of  wool  and  flax,  consuming  a  very  limited 
amount  of  cotton.    What  they  take  from  us  is  to  manufacture  for 
exportation.      Tobacco  is   prohibited — hemp  and   metals  they 
export.     The  population  of  Europe  is  205,000,000 — of  the  At- 
lantic all  round,  253,000,000.     On  the  Pacific,  in  front  of  us, 
are   400,000,000   people   of   the   tropics  —  Polynesians,    South 
Americans,  Soutliern  Asiatics — amongst  whom  wheat  is  not  cul- 
tivated, and  animal  food,  other  than  fish  and  poultry,  very  scarce. 
Their  clothing  is  exclu.sively  cloth  of  cotton,  grass,  and  silk. 
Opium  is  excessively  used  amongst  them,     llice,  the  plantain, 
banana,  and  fruits  arc  their  uusi.^stantial  diet.     Here,  then,  will 
be  the  market  for  raw  and  manufactured  cotton.     Here  our  rank 
manufactured  tobacco  will  substitute  itself  for  opium.     Here  our 
substantial  articles  of  food — flour,  meats,  and  fish — will  find  pur- 
chasers in  all  who  eat.     Lead  and  hemp  will  be  sold.     In  return 
will  come  to  us  groceries,  spices,  teas,  cofi"ee,  sugar — porcelain, 
Japan  ware,  furniture^  works  in   ivory  —  drugs,  paints,   dyes, 
medicines — beautiful  fabrics  of  silk,  satin,  velvet,  crapes;   nan- 
keens, the  delicate  shawls  of  Cashmere,  the  carpets  of  Persia — 
jewelry,  trinkets,  and  to3's  —  the  hemp  of  Manilla  —  luscious 
fruits  dried  and  preserved.     The  people  of  the  Pacific  have  no 
marine  adapted  to  cross  the  great  ocean — the  carrying  to  and  fro 


!'4 


ii 


'  Jii 


|>1 


.j»,« 


174 


API'KNUIX. 


will  bo  in  our  sliips,  nnd  a  monopoly  to  us — sli'p-buIlJin';  nnd 
navi^iitioii  will  occiipy  our  pcoplo  of  tlio  now  Koabourl,  nnd  the 
niotals,  liiiiilicr,  and  lioinp  of  the  interior  find  a  prodij^ious 
dctnand.  Tlio  jjopulatiun  of  the  Panillo  ull  round  exceeds 
64r),0(»0,0()0  !  Will  not  (ben  o\ir  people  find  in  tbis,  tbut  certain 
panacea  of  all  tbeir  wants  and  wisbes,  namely,  an  infinite  market 
of  eonsuniption  ?  Surely  tbis  people,  wbicb  lias  submitted  to  the 
nostrums  of  political  quackery,  tariffs  of  protectio'i.  banks  to 
make  money  plenty,  liomc  manufactures  and  systems  of  internal 
improvement,  all  invented  to  create  markets  at  borne,  by  ebang- 
ing  our  producing;  a;:;riculturists  into  eonsumint^  operatives,  but 
all  of  wbicb  little  experiments  bave  produced  industrial  anarcby 
and  eominereial  bankruptcy;  surely  tbis  people  will  not  bcsitate 
to  construct  for  tbemselves  tbis  ^reat  "  National  Ilij^bway,"  at 
pinall  comparative  cost,  and  leadinjz;  as  level  as  a  cannon  to  its 
blank,  to  a  new  ocean,  teeminj^  witb  045,000,000  of  people,  of 
wants  unlimited,  and  liaving  a  geniuK  active,  inudligcnt,  and 
commercial !  To  effect  tbis,  it  is  oidy  necessary  to  untrammel 
progress  from  tbc  snares  and  dead-falls  of  inaritimo  policy.  To 
re-open  tbe  legitimate  onward  trail  of  tbe  pioneer  army,  and  rein- 
vigorate  its  marcb.  Tbe  cause  of  tbe  pioneers  at  tbis  bour  pre- 
eminently ik'nuiHiIii  tbe  undivided  energies  of  ^Missouri.  It  is 
for  us  tbat  tbc  pioneer  army  is  now  coufiuering  tbe  vast  wilder- 
ness tbat  bems  in  our  commerce  and  blocks  tbo  frontier:  for  us 
it  throws  down  tbe  perfidious  Indian  wall :  reopens  tbe  central 
trail  of  advancement  so  long  insidiously  closed — and  to  us,  for  us, 
it  re•e^stablisbes  tbat  crowning  excellence  of  position  of  which 
hostile  policy  has  for  thirty  years  bereft  us. 

It  is  no^  ambition  tbat  impels  vx,  citizens  of  Missouri,  to 
advance  to  tbe  advocacy  of  tbis  great  work  with  our  whole 
unshackled  energies — it  is  high  religious  duty.  Central  to  the 
continent,  to  its  internal  navigation,  to  its  States,  to  its  com- 
merce, and  to  its  variety  of  agriculture,  neutral  to  all  sectional 
antipathies,  and  the  converging  heart  of  all  interests :  we  must 
occupy  tbis  central  position  with  a  power  and  dignity  equal  to  its 
importance,  with  a  strength  of  grasp  and  intensity  of  enterprise 
to  cope  with  the  tallest  exigencies.     Let  us  appreciate  this,  and 


ArrioNDix. 


176 


stand  up  to  thn  work  with  hc:irt.s  of  controversy  nnd  situ-wH  of 
omiiiraiici',  that  the  faiuo  of  our  glorious  State,  sallying;  forth  from 
her  seat  in  th((  centre,  may  resuund  in  and  outward  all  round 
from  tho  centre  to  the  cireumiluent  oceans  ! 

Observe  tho  forci{j;n  comnicrco  of  America,  and  the  splendid 
murine  which  it  sustains  I  This  has  grown  up  in  liOU  years. 
Hut  compare  with  it  tlu;  commerce  and  navii^ation  of  the  inte- 
rior, grown  up  in  less  than  forty  years,  fur  nuch  is  the  age  of 
steam  navigation  on  the  rivers  and  lakes.  The  latter  already 
equals  tho  former,  for  it  tran.sports  internally  what  is  consumed 
at  homo,  as  well  as  what  is  eullectcd  at  the  seaports  for  exporta- 
tion. Thus  St.  Louis,  in  the  amount  of  tonnage  arriving  and 
departing  annually,  is  the  fourth  city  of  tho  Union,  ranking  next 
to  Boston.  Indelinitely  grand  is  this  domestic,  internal  coni- 
mcrco.  Let  us  compare  the  two.  Tho  commerce  between  New 
York  and  Liverpool,  3500  miles  a.*under,  rcrjuircs  powerful 
vessels  of  great  size  and  strength  to  carry  mu'di  and  resist  the 
storms  of  tii  ocean.  The  intervening  space  is  a  desert  waste  of 
salt  water.  A  vessel  of  OOO  tuns  must  be  filled  with  cargo  before 
lier  departure,  to  make  so  long  a  voyage  profitable.  She  goes  to 
Liverpool  and  back — sails  3500  miles,  touches  only  two  points  of 
land,  and  carries  two  loads — four  months  of  time  at  least,  is  con- 
sumed in  this.  Such  arc  the  voyages  of  ocean  connnercc — expen- 
sive, dilatory,  and  fidl  of  dangers.  Compare  with  this  the  river 
voyage.  From  Pittsburg  (or  New  Orleans)  to  Fort  Union,  the 
distance  is  3500  miles,  by  the  Ohio  and  Missouri  rivcr.s— a 
steamer  of  GOO  tons,  cheaply  constructed  and  navigated,  per- 
forms tho  voyage  to  and  fro,  with  perfect  safety,  in  two  and  a  half 
months,  and  absolutely  without  danger,  along  a  continuous  river 
channel.  This  channel  has  a  double  bank,  so  that  this  vessel 
coasts  along  a  shore  of  14,000  miles,  at  any  .square  rod  of  which 
she  may  take  iu  and  discharge  passengers  and  cargo.  Thus  it  is 
possible  that  no  single  passenger  or  cargo  remains  on  board  over 
100  miles,  and  yet  the  vessel  is  full  througliout  tho  voyage.  These 
same  advantages  belong' to  railroads  traversing  populous  countries. 
Such  is  our  internal  navigation — cheap,  expeditious,  and  abso- 
lutely without  danger. 
15* 


ii/' 


W!\  IIBiailin^^wvpiBlp^lfp^Jf-^^pim^llllJII J|J|.|.^J|.llW|HI|Mll  ■■ 


176 


APPENDIX. 


Now  the  circuitous  seaboard  surrounding  the  Atlantic  may  be 
estimated  at  09,000  miles,  with  harbors  indenting  it — but  small 
vessels  cannot  navigate  the  broad  sea,  nor  largo  vessels  enter  all 
the  harbors.  On  the  other  hand,  within  the  united  basins  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi,  is  a  continuous  'iver  navigation  for 
45,000  miles,  having  a  double  bunk  or  90,000  miles  of  coast,  the 
whole  extent  of  which  may  be  visited  by  the  same  steamer,  which 
can  land  anywhere !  Such  is  one  illustration  of  the  supremely 
beneficent  formation  of  this  great  interior  basin,  of  which  our  own 
State  occupies  the  centre  and  focus.  Let  a  railroad  from  the 
Missouri  elongate  this  to  the  Pacific,  carrying  population  clear  up 
all  the  rivers  to  their  sources  and  down  those  beyond  the  Sierras, 
and  behold  the  greatness  of  an  internal  commerce  ! 

Everybody  is  acquainted  with  the  commercial  intercourse  be- 
tween the  continents  which  fringe  the  Atlantic.  The  life,  the 
vivacity,  the  grand  energies  which  resound  upon  its  buoyant 
waves.  All  this  is  the  result  of  the  discovery  of  yVmerica  and 
its  population  with  European  stock — hence  all  this  has  its  growth ! 
Antiquity  had  for  its  field  the  Mediterranean,  and  gallics  sufficed. 
This  was  commerce  in  its  infancy,  confined  to  the  nursery  and 
content  with  toys.  Since  Columbus,  America  has  become  greater 
than  the  Europe  of  Columbus — and  as  this  period  has  expanded 
the  field  of  human  activity  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the 
Atlantic  and  Mediterranean,  from  Western  Europe  to  America 
and  Europe,  blending  all  this  vast  space  under  one  international 
relationship.  So  now  we  advance  to  consummate  the  blending 
of  the  Pacific  with  these  other  seas  : — Asia  with  these  other  con- 
tinents— and  urge  to  its  goal  that  expanding  progression,  which 
marches  on  to  complete  the  zodiac  of  the  globe,  and  blend  into 
bonds  of  confraternity  all  the  continents,  all  the  seas,  and  all  the 
nations ! 

In  the  vast  region  of  North-Western  Texas,  traversed  by  the 
rivers  Brazos,  Trinity,  Rio  lloxo,  Canadian,  Arkansas,  and  Del 
Norte,  exists  a  fertile  region  much  larger  than  France,  the  dry- 
ness of  whose  climate,  whose  red  soils,  impregnated  with  the  sul- 
phate of  lime  (plaster),  and  whose  dtitude,  present  in  perfect 
combination  the  qualities  for  the  cultivation  of  the  grape  and  the 


APPENDIX. 


177 


production  of  wines.  These  rivers  all  have  their  sources  in  pro- 
digious mountains  of  plaster,  from  winch  the  red  tinge  and  the 
fertility  of  their  valleys  below  is  derived.  Natural  vineyards, 
covering  millions  of  acres,  and  annually  pruned  down  by  the  nib- 
bling herds  of  buffalo  and  antelope,  here  now  yearly  waste  an 
inflnite  vintage.  This  has  already  become  known  to  the  German 
pioneers  of  Texas,  and  soon  will  be  seen  rising  a  vine  culture, 
rivalling  in  national  importance  the  cotton  culture,  the  tobacco 
crop,  and  even  the  production  of  provisions.  Then  too  will  be 
seen  the  universal  consumption  of  mild  and  healthy  wines  by 
our  people,  and  the  gay  and  exhilarating  spirits  which  generous 
wines  inspire,  will  transpose  the  fell  passions  and  fiery  madness 
of  alcohol. 

Again,  the  region  of  gold  and  precious  metals  and  stones  is  not 
limited,  but  is  absolutely  infinite.  It  is  over  the  whole  extent  of 
that  primary  and  volcanic  formation  extending  from  the  antarctic 
to  the  arctic  extremities  of  America,  including  in  its  expanse  the 
Andes  of  South  and  North  America,  the  Sierra  Madre  and  the 
Table  Lands.  This  abundance  of  the  material  of  coin,  wrought 
and  developed  by  sober  American  industry,  is  to  the  human  race 
the  .supremest  gift  of  Divine  Beneficence.  Has  not  the  American 
cotton  culture  obliterated  harsh  aristocratic  distinctions  in  dress, 
and  thus  democratized  the  costume  of  society  over  the  world  ? 
What  cotton  has  done  for  equality  in  dress,  the  same  will  gold 
effect  for  individual  equality  in  property  and  physical  comforts. 
Study  how  the  stiff,  icy  servitude  of  European  feudal  times  has 
melted,  since  the  conquests  of  Cortcz  and  Pizarro  opened  the 
sources  from  which  portable  personal  property  has  exalted  itself 
above  fixed  and  immutable  glebe  land  ! 

Beyond  the  Sierra  Madre,  upon  the  Great  Table  Lands,  '"  ". 
parallel  vein  of  thin  moimtains,  whose  masses  consist  of  rock-salt. 
As  streams  elsewhere  bring  down  gravel  and  soil,  so  here  they 
liquefy  the  rocks  dcwi  which  they  descend,  and  reaching  the 
small  inland  seas  nnd  l-kes,  yield  it  again  in  the  crystalline  cover- 
ings which  pave  their  bowls.  In  another  parallel  vein  is  a  con- 
tinuous line  of  plaster  mountains.  In  another,  a  continuous  line 
of  thermal  and  medicinal  springs,  some  of  which  are  the  first 


Ml 

III 


178 


APPENDIX. 


appearance  above  ground  of  subterranean  rivers,  having  flowed 
hundreds  of  miles  under  phiins  of  lava.  Secondary  basins  of 
great  size  abound,  having  freestone,  marble,  and  coal  formations 
— iron,  load,  and  the  metals  of  the  arts.  All  forms,  indeed,  into 
which  geology  classifies  matter,  here  follow  one  another  in  appro- 
priate positions  and  proportions,  with  the  regularity  uf  the  stripes 
of  the  rainbow,  the  whole  deriving  prominence  and  distinctness 
of  detail  from  the  immensity  of  the  general  scale. 

Thus,  instead  of  inferiority  in  abundance  and  variety  of  things 
used  by  and  useful  to  man,  it  is  here  that  they  especially  abound 
in  variety,  good  quality,  and  vastnoss.  Across  all  these  must  pass 
any  highway  connecting  the  two  oceans,  distributing  outward 
the  infinite  natural  resources  of  this  iutra-montane  world.  No 
other  portion  of  the  world  will  better  accommodate  a  dense  popu- 
lation than  these  Table  Lands,  on  which  further  south,  is  the 
chief  population  of  Mexico.  In  the  dryness  and  salubrity  of  its 
climate,  its  extraordinary  pastoral  e.^ccUcnce,  and  its  mineral 
wealth,  arc  the  e(iuivalcnts  of  the  richer  lands,  but  uncertain 
seasons  and  health  of  countries  of  less  altitude.  Its  intermediate 
position  will  secure  perpetual  communication  with  the  seaboards. 

An  admirable  economy  of  arrangement  given  by  nature  to  the 
industry  of  our  people,  points  with  great  power  to  this  central 
route,  which  also  corresponds  to  the  positions  and  courses  of  the 
great  navigable  rivers.  In  New  England  and  at  the  extreme 
north,  where  winter  dwarfs  agriculture,  there  are  no  planters,  but 
ships  are  built,  owned,  and  navigated.  Here  are  the  marine  of 
zVmcrica,  her  stulors.  On  the  shores  of  the  Gulf,  and  where 
southern  warmth  invites  man  to  agriculture,  no  ships  are  built, 
owned,  or  navigated — the  people  here  plant  and  produce  cargoes 
for  the  ships  of  the  north — not  a  native  sailor  is  found  in  these 
countries.  Jjetwcen  these,  occupying  a  broad  central  belt,  are 
the  farmers,  producers  of  food.  These  latter  ecjuul  in  number 
the  other  two  combined.  The  farmer  recoils  from  a  southern 
sun,  where  heat  forbids  labor,  and  where  the  culture  of  wheat 
and  swine  languis'.ics — in  like  manner,  ho  recoils  from  the  long 
winter  of  the  north,  wbcre  cattle  and  Indian  corn  cease  to  yield 
abundantly.     It  is  this  central  farming  population  which  feed 


APPENDIX. 


179 


the  commercial  people  of  the  North  and  the  planting  people  of 
the  South,  and  support  themselves  and  furnish  for  export.  They 
precede  all  other  occupants,  and  head  the  movement  into  the 
wilderness,  where  the  first  requisites  are  food  and  transportation. 
Yet  it  is  amongst  the  farming  population  that  domestic  commerce 
finds  its  great  volume  of  employments — and  amongst  them  are 
required,  first  and  chiefly,  the  great  channels  of  trade  which  find 
their  termini  amongst  the  other  two.  It  is  this  mass,  which, 
stopped  by  the  artificial  network  of  maritime  polici/,  is  now 
rushing  through  and  tearing  its  meshes  from  their  fastenings.  In 
resuming  their  ancient  vigor,  concentrated  by  long  restraint,  they 
now  demand  a  National  Ilailway  to  the  ocean  which  they  seek. 

What  I  have  here  stated,  Mr.  Chairman  and  fellow-citizens, 
of  geographical  facts,  are  of  my  own  knowledge;  for  with  the 
works  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Fremont,  Emory,  and  Humboldt,  I 
have  during  six  toilsome  years  of  war  and  exploration,  traversed 
the  countries  they  describe  and  the  vast  intervals  between,  irhich 
they  have  never  visited.  In  these  wanderings,  undertaken  of  my 
own  will,  I  have  descended  the  Andes  to  the  Pacific  and  returned; 
crossed  and  recrossed  by  many  routes  all  the  basins  of  the  Table 
Lands,  excepting  only  that  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  coasted 
along  the  base  of  the  Sierra  Madre  from  45°  to  25°.  This 
"mother  range"  I  have  crossed  and  recrossed  at  six  different 
passes  in  this  long  interval,  and  its  supreme  grandeur  is  stamped 
indelibly  in  my  memory.  What  I  have  said  of  •policy  is 
from  the  mouths  of  those  eminent  statesmen  who  have  con- 
trived it,  and  those  equally  eminent  who  have  unsuccessfully 
opposed  it. 

I  have  expressed  my  convictions  very  positively,  but  not  im- 
modestly ;  for  in  the  terrible  vastness  of  these  solitudes,  nature 
speaks  her  iron  will  from  summits  of  eternal  ice,  and  where  she 
frowns  upon  our  advances,  our  foolish  efforts  shrivel  into  ashes. 
It  is,  then,  this  stern  and  certain  language  of  nature  that  I  have 
sought  to  penetrate,  and  here  struggle  to  repeat.  Many  routes 
for  a  National  Highway,  cunningly  contrived  and  speciously 
reasoned  out,  are  before  the  people — all  these  will  vanish  beneath 
exact  geographical  scrutiny,  for  they  violate  nature  at  hap-hazard, 

M 


A\ 


180 


APPENDIX. 


with  whom  human  skill  must  act  in  unison.     This  unison  is  hap- 
pily attainable,  and  discussion  will  reveal  it. 

Let  us,  then,  understand  nature  rightly — let  us  cense  from 
conflict,  and  further  our  onward  march  in  unison  with  her  bene- 
ficent aid  and  guidance.  This  great  work  must  come  and  come 
now,  to  this  generation.  No  difficulty  lie8  in  the  enterprise 
itself — but  such  as  will  instantly  vanish  before  the  concentrated 
will  and  energies  of  the  people. 


II. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  A  MASS  MEETING 

OP  THE  CITIZENS  OP  JACKSON  COUNTY,  AT  INDEPENDENCE, 
ON  THE  5th  op  NOVEMBER,  1849,  TO  RESPOND  TO  THE 
ACTION  OP  THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  RAILROAD  CONVENTION, 
HELD  IN   ST.    LOUIS  ON   THE    loTH   DAY   OP  OCTOBER,   1849. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Modie,  Col.  James  Chiles  was 
appointed  Chairman,  and  on  motion  of  R.  G.  Smart,  Esq.,  J.  R. 
Palmer  was  appointed  Secretary. 

Col.  Wm.  Gilpin  was  then  called  upon  to  address  the  meet- 
ing, and  explain  its  object:  He  responded  to  the  call  in  a  speech 
which  interested  and  occupied  the  attention  of  the  meeting  for 
about  one  hour  and  a  half;  in  conclusion  he  movod  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  of  twelve  to  write  and  report  to  the  meeting 
resolutions  responsive  to  the  action  of  the  great  Convention  at  St. 
Louis.  The  motion  having  been  adopted,  the  Chairman  appointed 
as  the  Committee :  Col.  William  Gilpin,  A.  Brooking,  Gen.  S.  D, 
Lucas,  Samuel  Ralston,  Maj.  Robert  Rickman,  Col.  James  M. 
Cogswell,  James  P^-ttou,  Esq.,  Col.  Oliver  Caldwell,  R.  G. 
Smart,  Esq.,  William  R.  Singleton,  Alexander  Collins,  and  S. 
H.  Woodson,  Esq. 

The  Committee,  after  consultation,  reported  the  following  reso- 
lutions, which  were  unanimously  adopted  : — 


^JP^tRI^'IVPIW  I  !>'  '(■!  II  >l 


xap^m 


APPENDIX. 


181 


1.  Resolved,  That  we  heartily  and  zealously  approve  of,  ar.i 
concur  in  the  proceeding  of  the  "  National  Railroad  Convention," 
held  at  St.  Louis  on  the  15th  ultimo. 

2.  Resolved,  That  in  the  great  national  work,  that  shall  con- 
nect the  two  seaboards  of  our  country,  and  the  interior  with  the 
seaboards,  we  behold  an  enterprise  as  universal  to  the  inhabitants 
of  our  Union  as  their  language,  their  politics,  and  their  com- 
merce— a  bond  of  unanimous  action,  and  not  a  bone  of  contention 
and  strife. 

3.  Resolvrd,  That  to  the  people  of  the  "  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
eippi,"  intimate  and  direct  connection  with  the  seaboards  and 
people  of  the  Pacific,  is  as  essential  and  as  interesting  as  with 
those  of  the  Atlantic. 

4.  Resolved,  That,  inasmuch  as  our  people  in  their  natural 
progressive  growth  have  extended  their  habitations  across  the 
continent,  and  along  the  western  seaboard,  it  is  our  duty,  and  the 
duty  of  our  Government,  to  give  to  this  new  seaboard,  fleets,  for- 
tifications, and  arms  for  defence  —  harbors,  light-houses,  and 
murine  police,  for  the  encouragement  and  protection  of  commerce 
and  highways — and  a  military  police  to  confirm  and  make  safe  the 
connection  with  the  interior. 

5.  Resolved,  further,  That  a  NATIONAL  Railroad  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  is  the  most  direct,  economical,  and  con- 
stitutional means  of  efiecting  the  above  objects. 

5,  Resolved,  That,  whereas  the  Almighty  has  placed  the  terri- 
tories of  the  American  Union  in  the  centre,  between  Asia  and 
Europe,  and  the  route  of  the  "  Asiatic  and  European  Railway" 
through  the  heart  of  our  national  domain,  it  is  our  duty  to  the 
human  family  to  prosecute,  vigorously,  through  its  new  channel, 
that  supreme  commerce  between  the  Oriental  Nations  and  the 
Nations  o.  ^.e  Atlantic,  which  history  proves  to  have  existed  in 
all  ages,  and  to  be  necessary  to  keep  alive  comity,  science,  and 
civilization  among  mankind. 

6.  Resolved,  That,  whcreaf!  the  people  of  China,  Japan,  Poly- 
nesia, and  Southern  America  now  receive  from  British  India 
aijricultural  jiroduce  (raw  and  manufactured  cotton,  indigo, 
opium,  rice,  wool,  &c.),  to  the  amount  of  3150,000,000,  annually; 


M 


\^f^fl  r   i>ii  vfiuiimuui  vjum.ipi^vTTimvv'vn^wiiiw  i  unpjiumi 


182 


APPENDIX. 


we  bolieve  these  same  people  will  take  from  the  Americans  in 
2>rr/crence,  moro  than  twice  this  amount  of  agricultural  produce 
(substituting  tobacco  for  opium,  and  flour  and  meats  for  rice)  so 
soon  as  the  barrier  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  be  removed  by  a 
National  Railway. 

7.  Resolved,  That  apart  from  the  great  benefits  which  shall 
accrue  to  us  and  the  other  nations  of  the  Atlantic  from  this 
National  Railway,  wc  regard  it  as  a  beneficent  domestic  work,  to 
open  to  our  people  access  to  the  immense  and  glorious  domain  of 
the  Plains,  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  great  Table  Lands,  and  the 
Andes,  known  to  abound  in  metals,  mountains  and  lakos  of  salt, 
mountalr.s  of  plaster  and  marble,  thermal  and  medicinal  springs, 
wild  cattle,  salubrious  climates,  sulphur,  coal,  lumber,  arable  and 
pastoral  lands  of  the  finest  quality,  and  staple  productions 
uullmlted  in  variety  and  abundance. 

8.  Resolved,  That,  whereas,  during  the  last  thirty  years,  the 
generation  of  our  fathers  has  covered  the  eastern  half  of  our  con- 
tinent with  States,  and,  commencing  with  the  New  York  Canal 
in  1818,  has  everywhere  rendered  the  connection  between  the 
"  "V'alloy  of  the  Mississippi"  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard  complete, 
and  carried  the  commerce  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  grandest  devel- 
opment— It  is  the  high  and  glorious  mission  and  duty  of  us  their 
sons  and  heirs,  of  the  growing  generation,  in  lUce  manner,  to 
cover  the  western  half  of  the  continent  with  States,  to  render 
complete  with  great  works  the  connection  of  the  "  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi"  with  the  Pacific  seaboard,  and  expand  upon  the 
Pacific  Ocean  a  similarly  magnificent  commerce. 

9.  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  entreat  dur  fellow-citizens,  in 
all  sections  of  our  Union,  to  unite  with  us  in  this  central  domestic 
work  in  preference  to  dissipating  the  national  energies  upon  cir- 
cuitous routes,  running  near  the  equator,  through  foreign  coun- 
tries beyond  our  control,  and  certain  to  Involve  us  in  the  com- 
petitions, the  jealousies,  and  the  hostile  interests  of  foreigners 
and  rivals. 

10.  Renohcd,  That  we  invite  our  fellow-citizens  throughout 
the  State  to  assemble  in  their  counties  and  cities,  and  join  in  a 
general  and  unanimous  response  to  the  St.  Louis  Convention,  and 


APPENDIX. 


183 


unite  with  us  in  respectfully  instructing  our  Representatives  and 
Senators  in  Congress  to  vote  for  such  measures  as  may  be  intro- 
duced at  the  coming  session  of  our  National  Legislature  to  carry 
out  the  views  embodied  in  the  foregoing  resolutions. 

11.  Resolved^  That  the  Secretary  of  this  Mass  Meeting  forward 
to  each  of  our  Representatives  and  Senators  in  Congress  a  copy 
of  these  resolutions. 

Mr.  George  W.  Rhoadcs  offered  the  following  resolutions : — 

1.  Resolved,  That  Col.  Gilpin  bo  requested  to  write  out  for 
publication  the  speech  made  by  him  to  this  meeting  on  to-day. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  "  Missouri  Commonwealth,"  and  all 
other  papers  in  this  State  friendly  to  a  project  of  constructing  a 
National  Railroad  to  the  Pacific  from  the  "  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi," be  requested  to  publish  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting. 


III. 


PIKE'S  PEAK  AND  THE  SIERRA  SAN  JUAN. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  AN 

ADDRESS  BY  COL.  WILLIAM  GILPIN, 

DELIVERED  AT  KANSAS  CITY,  NOVEMBER  15tH,  1858;  ON 
THE  GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  AMERICA  AND  TUE  SIERRA  SAN 
JUAN. 

I  SUBMIT  to  your  inspection  three  maps.  The  first  is  an 
"  Hydrographic  Map  of  North  America,"  exhibiting  in  daguerreo- 
type the  physical  divisions  of  our  continent ;  the  second  is  a  map 
of  the  world,  exhibiting  America  in  the  centre  between  Asia  and 
Europe,  and  having  delineated  upon  it  the  Isothermal  Zodiac  of 
Nations,  filling  the  north  temperate  zone  of  the  globe ;  the  third 
is  a  map  of  the  "  Basin  of  the  Mississippi." 
16 


184 


APPENDIX. 


Physical  geography  arranges  the  surface  of  tlic  continents  into 
basins  and  the  mountain  crests  whicli  divide  them.  Thus  the 
basin  of  the  Mississippi  is  that  surface  which,  being  drained  by 
all  the  confluent  branches  of  this  river,  discharges  its  fro.^h  waters 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  surface  is  an  undulating,  calcare- 
ous plain  of  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  sfjuare  miles  of 
area  ;  it  is  embraced  entirely  within  the  temperate  zone;  occupies 
the  heart  and  splendors  of  our  continent,  and  is  the  most 
magnificent  dwelling-place  marked  out  by  God  for  man's  abode. 
Three  more  similar  calcareous  basins,  each  drained  by  a  single 
system  of  rivers :  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence ;  the  basin  of 
the  Saskatchewan  of  Hudson's  Bay;  and  the  arctic  basin  of  the 
McKenzie,  resting  upon  one  another  and  upon  the  basin  of  the 
Mississippi,  form  together  one  continuous  expanse,  geologically 
UL-f'orm  and  identical.  This  immense  expanse  defines  it.self  as 
the  Calcareous  Plain  of  North  America.  Limestone  horizontally 
stratified,  underlies  this  whole  expanse,  being  formed,  like  cheese 
from  milk,  from  the  sediment  and  pressure  of  the  ocean  which 
once  rolled  over  it,  but  has  now  retired. 

This  calcareous  plain,  thus  forming  a  unit  in  physical  goographyj 
embraces  four-sevenths  of  the  area  of  our  continent.  It  is  en- 
compassed all  round  by  a  circuit  of  primary  mountiiins,  within 
which  it  forms  an  amphitheatre.  These  mountains  are  the  Allegha- 
nies,  towards  the  Atlantic;  the  Cordilleras  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
and  the  Andes,  towards  the  Pacific.  The  mouths  of  the  great 
rivers  form  the  doors  or  outlets  through  them  to  the  oceans.  This 
circumferent  wall  of  mountains  is  of  immense  breadth  toward  the 
Pacific.  It  is  the  second  unit  in  physical  geography,  and  covers 
two-sevenths  of  the  area  of  our  c(tntinent.  External  to  the  moun- 
tain formation  Is  the  Maritime  Slope,  washed  by  the  oceans,  and 
penetrated  by  the  tides.  This  external  division  is  the  third  unit 
in  physical  geography,  and  forms  all  round  one-seventh  of  the 
area  of  our  continent. 

Behold,  then,  the  physical  arrangement  of  our  continent;  at 
once  simple,  complete,  and  sublime  : — the  Calcareous  Plain,  four- 
sevenths  ;  the  Mountain  Formation,  two-sevenths ;  the  Maritime 
Slope,  one-seventh. 


APPENDIX. 


185 


Tho  geological  structure  of  our  continent  has  tlic  same  order, 
a  like  magnitude  of  dimensions  and  arrangements,  a  parallel 
simplicity.  The  Calcareous  Plain  is  a  uniform  secondary  forma- 
tion of  limestone,  horizontally  deposited  and  stratified.  The 
Mountain  Formation  is  of  granite,  presenting  the  primeval  crust 
of  the  globe  rent  by  volcanic  forces,  and  elevated  vertically.  The 
Maritime  Slope  presents  tho  external  mountain  base  partly 
revealed,  and  partly  covered  by  the  washings  of  the  sea. 

Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  manufacture  of  siiot.  This  is 
accomplished  by  pouring  licjuid  lead  at  a  high  elevation,  through 
perforated  moulds.  Each  pellet  of  lead  descending  through  the 
air,  is  formed,  as  it  cools,  into  a  sphere,  by  the  invisible  force  of 
gravity.  The  globe  of  the  earth  has  had  a  similar  origin — once 
a  liquid  mass,  now  a  solid,  gravitating  sphere,  such  as  we  inhabit 
it.  Geology  explains  how  the  material  mass  of  this  great  sphere 
has  arranged  itself,  in  cooling,  into  layers  enveloping  one  another, 
like  the  successive  coatings  of  an  onion.  Specific  gravity  accounts 
for  the  relative  position  of  these  layers,  one  upon  the  other,  and 
explains  to  us  when  and  how  to  penetrate  to  their  metalliferous 
contents.  It  is  in  the  primeval  rocks  exclusively,  that  the 
precious  metals  and  precious  stones  are  found.  The  base  metals 
are  contained  in  the  calcareous  or  secondary  rocks.  The  same 
stupendous  scale  holds  in  the  abundance  of  the  metals,  their 
purity,  and  their  widely  extended  distribution. 

It  is  your  request  that  I  speak,  specially,  on  this  evening,  of 
the  gold  production  of  our  country,  and  specifically  of  the  region 
surrounding  Pike's  Peak  and  the  Sierra  San  Juan.  Specific 
gravity  guides  us  to  discover  the  rocks  in  which  the  precious 
metals  may  be  found  and  where  they  are  totally  absent.  If  into 
a  hollow  pillar  of  glass  there  be  poured  a  quart  of  quicksilver, 
one  of  water,  one  of  oil,  and  one  of  alcohol,  these  li(iuids  will 
rest  one  upon  the  other,  in  this  order  :  if  a  piece  of  gold,  of  iron, 
of  wood,  and  a  feather,  be  thrown  in,  they  will  sink;  the  gold  to 
the  bottom,  the  iron  to  the  quicksilver,  the  wood  to  the  water, 
the  feather  to  the  oil.  If  this  mass  be  congealed  to  ice,  this 
arrangement  will  remain  solid  and  permanent ;  the  gold  must  be 
sought  for  sedimentary  to  the  quicksilver;  the  iron  above  it,  but 


ISO 


APPENDIX. 


scilimontary  to  the  water ;  the  wood  fcJiinontary  to  the  oil.  In 
the  groat  order  of  nuturo,  a  similar  nrraiigemcut  hoUls  in  the 
rockt<  which  coiuposo  the  tilche  of  the  earth,  and  in  their  contents, 
once  all  linuid,  but  now  jtornianently  .'^olid  in  the  order  of  their 
relative  specific  gravities.  It  is  the  primeval  muss,  then,  of  the 
Mountain  Formation,  which  alone  is  auriferous,  and  within  it 
only  can  the  precious  metals,  and  especially  gold,  be  sought  for 
with  success. 

The  Mountain  Formation,  which  occupies  the  western  portion 
of  our  continent  to  the  extent  of  two-sevenths  of  its  whole  area, 
consists  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  IMadrc  on  the  cast,  the 
Cordillera  of  the  Andes  on  the  west,  and  the  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands  embraced  between  them.  It  is  uniformly  primeval 
and  everywhere  auriferous.  The  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands 
coramencos  above  Tehuantcpec,  where  the  Cordilleras  begin  to 
open  from  one  another.  It  runs  through  the  continent  to  Behr- 
ing's  Straits,  and  is  one  thousand  miles  in  width,  in  our  latitude, 
(30°).    , 

The  general  elevation  of  its  surface  is  GOOO  feet  above  the  sea ; 
that  of  the  Cordilleras  is  12,000  feet.  The  Plateau  is  traversed 
across  by  great  mountain  chains,  which  subdivide  it  into  basins. 
Three  of  the.se  basins  contain,  respectively,  the  great  rivers,  the 
Columbia,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Rio  del  Norte,  which  gorge  the 
Cordilleras,  and  escape  to  the  seas.  Three  other  basins  contain 
the  stagnant  lakes,  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  the  Logana,  and  the  Lake 
of  the  City  of  Mexico ;  these  have  no  outlets  or  drainage  to  the 
seas.  Of  these  mountain  chains  the  most  interesting  to  us  is  the 
Sierra  Mimbres.  This  divides  asunder  the  basins  of  the  Colorado 
and  the  Del  Norto,  which  rest  against  it  as  a  backbone.  It  leaves 
the  western  flank  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  in  lati- 
tude 39°,  and,  traversing  the  Plateau  by  a  due  southern  course 
for  1400  miles,  joins  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  in  the  Mexican 
State  of  Durango,  in  latitude  23°.  This  mountain  chain  is 
volcanic,  containiiig  craters  and  the  overflow  of  lava.  The 
Cordillera  of  the  Andes  is  also  volcanic.  These  mountain  chains 
consist  of  the  primeval  rocks,  broken  from  their  original  positions, 
heaved  up  edgewise  by  the  expansive  power  of  the  internal  fires 


API'KNDIX. 


187 


of  the  globe,  nnJ  rcvcalcJ  to  sit^^lit  and  search.  iMurcovor,  the 
Ciilondo  rivor,  in  cscapint^  to  the  sea,  gorges  the  Cordillera  of 
the  Andes  diagonally,  having  rent  its  way  by  a  chasm  bored 
through  the  very  bowels  of  the  Cordillera,  athwart  from  base  to 
base.  This  chasm,  four  hundred  miles  in  length,  is  known  as 
the  Cafion  of  the  Colorado.  This  canon  proHents  the  unique  and 
novel  fact  to  mankind,  that  a  primary  mountain  chain  whose 
Bummit  is  of  the  auriferous  rocks,  is  thus  gorged  to  its  foundations, 
many  thousand  feet  in  depth  1  It  is  here,  upon  the  plateau,  in 
the  arcane  of  the  mountain  formation,  and  the  activity  of  the 
stupendous  forges  of  nature,  that  the  precious  metals  may  bo 
sought  in  mass  and  in  position.  Moreover,  the  Sierra  Mimbres, 
where  its  southern  half  bisects  the  Mexican  States  of  Durango 
and  Chihuahua,  contains  twenty-one  mines  of  silver,  which, 
wrought  for  three  centuries  by  the  Spaniard.s,  have  furni.shed  the 
world  with  its  silver  coin  and  bullion.  Moreover,  where  the 
Sierra  IMimbrcs,  in  its  course  to  the  north,  approaches  to  its 
junction  with  the  Sierra  Madro,  it  increases  to  a  prodigious  bulk. 
It  rises  to  the  altitude  of  perpetual  snow,  and  assumes  for  two 
hundred  miles  the  local  name  of  Sierra  San  Juan.  Here  it  is 
that  the  dislocation  of  nature  by  volcanic  forces,  and  the 
conseriuent  metalliferous  development,  attain  their  highest  culmi- 
nation. 

What  is  about  to  follow  the  arrival  of  our  pioneer  people  within 
this  region,  may  be  exactly  illustrated  by  what  is  already  done 
within  the  region  of  the  great  Calcareous  Plain. 

We  have  seen  that  the  calcareous  plain,  being  formed  beneath 
a  great  ocean,  condensed  from  its  filtration  and  by  its  pressure, 
contains  only  the  base  metals,  copper,  iron,  lead,  zinc.  A  metal- 
liferous band  of  these  metals  is  traced  diagonally  across  it,  tra- 
versing from  south-western  Texas,  through  that  State,  through 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  Wisconsin,  brushing  the  shores  of  Lake 
Superior  and  of  Hudson's  Bay,  to  the  ocean  shore  opposite  Green- 
land. Points  of  culmination  of  these  various  metals  are  found, 
where  they  reveal  themselves  above  the  general  surface  in  mass 
and  in  position.  Thus  iron  appears  in  Missouri  in  native  purity, 
protruding  in  mountain  masses  over  many  hundred  square  miles 
16* 


188 


APPENDIX. 


of  surfuco ;  the  .same  isi  the  form  of  coppor  adjacent  to  Lako 
Superior;  so  also  with  lead  in  Missouri  and  in  Wisconsin. 

Now  the  sanjo  arrangement  characterizes  tho  iuinienso  prime- 
val formation  which  occupies  our  continent  from  Capo  Horn  to 
Jlohrinii's  Strait,  and  which  is  throughout  impregnated  with  tho 
precious  metals  !  iVs  j^old  is  everywhere  else  found  within  it  in 
the  form  of  grains  or  scales,  or  minute  lumps,  so  is  it  possible 
for  it  to  culminate  in  mass  and  in  position,  where  the  auriferous 
rock.s  are  upheaved  to  form  the  vertical  masses  of  tho  Sierra  San 
Juan  and  the  Andes,  and  arc  then  gorged  into  their  bowels  by 
the  caiion  of  tho  Colorado. 

The  search  for  gold  has  heretofore  conGncd  itself  to  tho  exter- 
nal i'links  of  the  primeval  mountains,  where  they  front  the  sea, 
and  where  the  rivers  descend  from  their  backs.  Why  it  has 
here  been  found  only  in  grain.s,  scales,  and  small  lumps  may  be 
thus  illustnitod  :  I  suppose  myself  at  my  camp-fire  in  the  wilder- 
ness engaged  in  boiling  rice  ;  into  a  camp  kettle  of  boiling  water 
I  throw  a  cup  of  rice.  This  rice,  after  a  time,  settles  by  its 
specific  gravity  into  a  sedimentary  mass  beneath  the  water — tho 
water  above  retains  a  milky  whiteness.  This  whiteness  is  due  to 
the  presence  of  minute  particles  of  rice  remaining  suspended 
through  the  body  of  the  lluid.  IJcing  frozen  into  ice,  this  con- 
dition remains  fixed  in  solid  form.  Tho  presence  of  the  gold  ia 
the  auriferous  r(jcks  has  had  a  similar  origin,  and  presents  iden- 
tical conditions.  It  is  the  attrition  of  the  elements  upon  tho 
surface  rocks  and  veins  only  that  have  as  yet  attracted  attention. 
It  is  hrnriUh  that  we  must  search  for  the  sedimentary  mass ;  tho 
possibility  to  do  which  now  first  presents  itself  as  wo  advance 
within  the  labyrinth  of  tho  volcanic  masses  and  cafions  of  tho 
plateau. 

My  own  personal  experience,  earned  during  three  military 
expeditions,  made  between  the  years  lS44-'4(),  rendered  despe- 
rate from  tlic  then  unknown  complication  of  the  country  added 
to  the  numerical  strength  and  savage  character  of  the  Indians,  is 
not  without  value.  The  facts  then  and  since  collected  by  me  aro 
80  numerous  and  so  positive,  that  I  entertain  an  absolute  convic- 
tion, derived  from  them,  that  gold  in  mass  and  in  position  and 


APPENDIX. 


189 


infinlto  in  quantity  will,  within  the  coming  three  yours,  rovoal 
itself  to  the  cncrj^y  of  our  pioncorH.  All  the  precious  nietuls  iinil 
precious  utonos,  will  also  reveal  themselves  in  e(|ual  uhunduneo  in 
this  roi^ion  so  propitious  to  their  production.  Such  a  develop- 
ment has  nothing  in  it  speculative  or  theoretical.  It  comes  of 
necessity  in  the  order  of  time,  and  as  an  inevitable  se(|ucnco  to 
tho  planting;  of  empire  in  Texas,  in  C'alifurnia,  in  ()rej,'on,  in 
Kansas,  and  in  Utah.  As  these  other  developments  have  pre- 
ceded it  in  tho  order  of  time,  and  encompass  it  all  round,  this 
now  comes  to  unite,  to  complete,  to  consummate  the  rest,  aud  to 
give  form  and  power  and  s[)lendor  to  the  whole. 

The  intjuiry  which  ae((uaints  us  with  tho  climate,  tho  aj;ricul- 
ture,  and  the  dumcstic  fjeography  of  this  immense  rofjion,  is  still 
equally  interesting  and  important  as  its  metals.  It  was  upon  tho 
summit  of  this  plateau,  where  it  traverses  3IcxIco  and  I'cru,  that 
tho  semi-civilized  empires  of  Montezuma  and  the  Incas  were 
found,  when  a  sterile  barbarism  pervaded  every  other  portion  of 
the  continent  of  America. 

The  distance  hence  to  Pike's  Teak  is  less  than  700  miles.  It 
is  reached  by  the  great  road  of  the  Arkansas  river,  traversing 
straight  to  the  west,  and  ascending  the  imperceptible  grade  of  tho 
Great  Plains  clear  to  the  mountain  base.  Gold  is  here  discovered 
so  soon  as  the  primeval  rocks  rise  from  beneath  the  calcareous 
plain.  Pike's  Peak,  which  rises  to  the  altitude  of  14,500  feet 
above  tho  sea,  is  the  abrupt  colossal  termination  of  tho  mountain 
promontory,  which,  protruding  eastward  from  the  Cordillera  100 
miles,  sunders  from  one  another  the  sources  of  tho  South  Platto 
and  the  Arkansas  rivers.  Where  this  promontory  connects  with 
the  Cordillera  is  a  supremely  grand  focal  point  of  primary  moun- 
tain chains,  primary  rivers,  and  pares.  This/oa/^  point  is  in  the 
same  latitude  as  San  Francisco  aud  St.  Louis  (39°),  is  about 
1000  miles  from  each,  and  in  the  centre  between  them.  The 
direction  of  the  Cordillera  is  from  north-west  to  south-east.  From 
its  western  flank  protrudes  a  promontory,  balancing  and  similar 
to  Pike's  Peak,  known  as  Elk  Mountain ;  it  sunders  from  ono 
another  the  Grand  river  of  the  Colorado  and  the  Kagle,  termina- 
ting abruptly  within  the  angle  of  their  junction.     Radiating  duo 


190 


APPENDIX. 


If 


I'lCM 


south  is  the  Sierra  Miiubrcs,  known  for  200  miles  by  the  snowy 
peaks  of  San  Juan;  this  chnin  sunJora  the  waters  of  Eagle 
river  from  the  llio  del  Norte.  The  southern  arm  of  the  Cordil- 
lera sunders  the  waters  of  the  Rio  del  Norte  from  the  Arkansas 
river  :  the  northern  arm,  the  waters  of  the  Platie  river  from  tho 
Rio  Grande  of  the  Colorado.  Such  is  this  focal  summit,  from 
which  live  primary  mountains  and  five  rivers  simultaneously 
depart.  Upon  the  Platte  is  the  pare  known  as  the  Bayou 
Salado ;  upon  the  Rio  G  rande  of  the  Colorado,  the  pare  known 
as  the  Middle  Pare  j  upon  the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  pare  called  the 
Bayou  of  San  Luis.  The  Arkansas  and  Eagle  rivers  have  no 
pares,  they  dolilo  outward  through  stupenduus  canons.  The 
pares,  scooped  out  of  the  main  dorsal  mass  of  the  Cordillera  by 
the  rivers  which  bisect  them,  are,  each  one  of  them,  an  immense 
amphitheatre  of  singular  beauty,  fertility,  and  temperate  atmo- 
sphere ;  they  approach  one  another  where  they  rest  against  the 
Cordillera  at  the  extreme  sources  of  the  rivers. 

Behold,  then,  the  panorama  which  salutes  the  vision  of  one 
who  has  surmounted  this  supremo  focal  summit  of  the  Cordillera  ! 
Infinite  in  variety  of  features ;  each  feature  intense  in  the  mag- 
nitude and  the  grandeur  of  its  mould ;  in  front,  in  rear,  and  on 
either  hand,  nature  ascending  in  all  her  elements  to  the  standard 
of  superlative  sublimity  !  Beneath,  the  family  of  Pares ;  around, 
the  radiating  banks  of  the  primeval  mountains;  the  primary 
rivers  starting  to  the  seas ;  above,  tho  ethereal  canopy  intensely 
blue,  effulgent  with  the  unclouded  sun  by  day,  and  stars  by 
night;  to  the  east,  the  undulatirg  plains,  expanding  one  hundred 
blagues,  to  dip,  like  the  ocean,  beneath  the  encircling  horizon; 
to  the  west,  the  sublime  Plateau,  chequered  by  volcanic  peaks 
and  mesas,  challenged  as  a  labyrinth,  by  the  profound  gorges  of 
the  streams ! 

It  is  manifest  with  what  ease  the  pioneers,  already  engaged  in 
mining  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bayou  Sahdo,  will  in  another 
season  ascend  through  it  to  the  Ccrdillo"'a,  surmount  its  crests, 
and  descend  into  the  Bayou  San  Luis.  They  will  develop  at 
every  step  gold  in  new  and  increasing  abundance.  Besides, 
access  is  equally  facile  by  the  Huerfano,  an  affluent  of  the  Ar- 


APPENDIX. 


191 


kansas  coming  down  from  the  Spanish  Pc;ik,  100  miles  farther 
to  the  south.  From  New  Mexico,  the  approach  is  by  ascending 
the  llio  IJravo  del  Norte.  The  snowy  battlement  of  the  Sierra 
Sau  Juan  form  the  western  wall  of  the  Bayou  San  Luis.  From 
its  middle  flank  the  Sierra  San  Juan  projects  to  the  south-west  a 
chain  of  remarkable  volcanic  mountains,  known  as  the  Sierra  La 
Plata  (silver  mountain).  This  chain  divides  asunder  the  waters 
of  the  Great  Colorado  from  the  Rio  San  Juan,  and,  filling  the 
angle  of  their  junction,  forms  the  perpendicular  wall  of  the 
Great  Caiion. 

It  is  to  this  remarkable  mountain  chain,  and  its  surrounding 
region,  that  I  have  desired  to  conduct  you,  and  here  stop,  in  the 
midst  of  the  veritable  arcana  of  the  Mountain  Formation  and  its 
metalliferous  elements. 

The  Sierra  l,i  Plata  is  400  miles  in  length,  having  its  course 
wc^t-south-wcst.  Along  its  dorsal  crest  are  volcanic  masses 
penetrating  to  perpetual  snow;  its  flanks  descend  by  immense 
terraces  of  carboniferous  and  sulphurous  limestone.  All  forma- 
tions of  the  globe  here  come  together,  mingle  with  one  another, 
acquire  harmony,  and  arrange  themselves  side  by  side  in  gigantic 
proportions.  Lava,  porphyritic  granite,  sandstone,  limestone, 
the  precious  and  base  metals,  precious  stones,  salt,  mnvble,  coal, 
thermal  and  medicinal  streams,  fantastic  mountains  called  cri- 
stones,  or  abrupt  peaks,  level  mesas  of  great  fertility,  cailons, 
delicious  valleys,  rivers,  and  great  forests;  all  these,  and  a  thou- 
sand other  varieties,  find  room,  apjioar  in  succession,  in  perfect 
order,  and  in  perfectly  graceful  pronortioas.  llemoteness  from 
the  sea,  and  altitude,  secure  to  this  region  a  tonic  atmosphere, 
warm,  cloudless,  brilliant,  and  serene.  The  aboriginal  people  are 
numerous,  robust,  and  intciiigeufc.  They  are  the  N-'vajos  and 
Zuta  Indians.  They  have  skill  in  agriculture  and  weaving,  rear 
great  herds  of  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep,  but  construct  neither 
permanent  nor  temporaiy  houses,  so  dry  and  favorable  is  the 
atmosphere !  Here,  also,  occurs  a  remarkable,  isolated  moun- 
tain, known  to  rumor  for  half  a  century,  but  only  now  locally 
identified.  This  is  Cerro  di  Sal  (Salt  Mountain).  This  rises 
among  the  western  spurs  of  the  Sierra  la  Plata,  to  an  altitude  of 
9000  feet,  appearing  as  an  irregular  cone  of  great  bulk.    A  pure, 


192 


APPENDIX. 


stratified  mass  of  rock-salt,  its  flanks  are  channelled  by  the  little 
river  Dolores,  whose  wat^^s,  saturated  with  liquid  salt,  yield  it 
again  in  its  lower  course,  in  granulated  beds  of  snowy  whiteness, 
tinted  witli  vcrmillion  streaks  from  the  beds  of  seleuite  with 
which  the  salt  formation  alternates. 

Such,  my  fellow-citizens,  arc  the  facts  and  reflections  which  I 
have  selected  for  your  attention,  in  speaking  vipon  the  gold  region 
of  Pike's  Peak  and  the  Sierra  San  Juan.  The  superlative  cha- 
racter of  this  region  engaged  the  enthusiastic  pen  and  patriotic 
instincts  of  President  Jeff'erson,  more  than  half  a  century  ago. 
Overshauowed  during  this  long  interval  by  political  and  military 
excitements,  which  have  deflected  elsewhere  the  progressive 
columns  of  our  pioneer  people,  it  now  recurs  to  restore  the  pre- 
eminent continental  character  which  inspired  the  goueration  who 
founded  our  republican  Union. 

Who,  and  what,  are  these  people  that  I  now  address  ?  AVe  arc 
not  the  people  of  the  North  ;  we  are  not  the  people  of  the  South ; 
nor  of  the  East;  nor  of  the  West.  We  arc  emphatically,  and 
par  excellence,  the  people  of  the  Centre  !  Inspirations,  oracular 
by  their  source  and  their  auticjuity,  admonish  us  to  resume  our 
distributive  position,  and  develope  the  energies  which  assume 
and  keep  the  load. 

Look  upon  this  map  of  the  world,  upon  which  science  delineates 
the  zodiac  of  empires  and  the  isoti.orraal  axis  of  progress  !  We 
have  our  homes  around  the  centre  of  iliis  our  northern  continent 
the  centre  of  our  continental  Union,  the  centre  of  the  Mississippi 
basin.  Behold,  upon  the  right  hand,  the  European  continent 
with  its  2(50,000,000  of  people ;  it  slopes  toward  our  eastern  sea 
board  and  faces  toward  the  west !  Behold,  upon  the  left  hand 
the  continent  of  Oriental  Asia  and  its  islands,  with  its  population 
of  650,000,000;  it  slopes  toward  our  western  seaboard,  and  faces 
to  the  east !  These  external  continents,  dividing  between  them 
the  population  of  the  world,  both  face  America  and  face  one 
another  across  America.  We  occupy  thfi  middle  space  between 
them,  and  at  once  separate  them  asunder,  and  connect  them 
together.  From  Paris  to  Pekin,  travelling  by  our  threshold,  is 
but  a  journey  of  10,000  miles.  It  bisects  the  temnerate  zone — 
it  is  the  line  of  land  and  way  travel  of  mankind. 


Al'l'KNDIX. 


193 


But  a  fuct  of  profound  significance  to  us,  revealed  by  physical 
geography,  remains  to  be  considered.  It  is  along  the  axis  of  the 
isothermal  zone  of  the  Northern  Ilemiephcre,  that  the  principles 
of  revealed  civilization  make  the  circuit  of  the  globe.  This 
isothermal  zone  deflects  from  the  geographical  zone  (which  is  a 
flat  section  of  the  globe),  undulating  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south,  to  preserve  a  constant  identity  of  temperature.  Under 
the  influence  of  the  warm  maritime  climates,  it  ri.ses  high  above 
the  40th  degree  of  latitude;  under  the  influence  of  the  conti- 
nental climates,  it  is  depressed  to  the  south  of  the  40th  degree. 
With  what  the  history  of  six  thousand  years  practically  demon- 
strates, the  proofs  of  physical  geography  agree.  Along  this  axis 
hrve  arisen  successively  the  great  cities  of  China  and  of  India, 
of  Babylon,  Jerusalem,  Athens,  Kome,  Paris,  London,  in  the 
older  continents — upon  our  continent,  the  seaboard  cities.  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore;  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  and 
St.  Louis.  The  channel  of  the  Missouri  is  its  onward  track  to 
us :  whence  it  passes  by  the  Kansas  basins,  the  Sweetwater, 
Snake  river,  and  the  Columbia,  to  Vancouver's  Island,  upon  the 
South  Pacific  shore. 

We,  then,  the  people  of  the  centre,  are  upon  the  lines  of  in- 
tense and  intelligent  energy,  where  civilization  has  its  largest 
field,  its  highest  developments,  its  inspired  form.  lilong  this 
line  have  come,  from  the  plateau  of  Syria,  our  religion,  our 
sciences,  our  civilization,  our  social  manners,  our  arts  and  agri- 
culture, the  hor.se,  our  articles  of  food  and  raiment ;  and  here  is 
the  eternal  fire  from  which  is  rekindled,  when  it  has  expired,  the 
spirit  of  the  "unconquerable  mind,  and  freedom's  holy  flame." 

We  have  seen  depart  a  perverse  generation,  distinguished  by 
civic  discord.  An  unscrupulous,  seaboard  power  has  aspired  to 
found  a  republic  of  the  North;  a  republic  of  the  South;  a  republic 
of  the  Pacific  shores.  A  nefarious  federal  policy,  operating  for 
forty  years,  has  occluded  with  savages  and  deserts,  the  delicious 
central  region  of  the  prairies,  the  great  plains,  the  plateau,  and 
the  mountains.  The  physical  geography  of  our  country  has  been 
officially  caricatured,  concealed,  and  maligned.  The  solid  conti- 
nental republic,  founded  in  177G,  and  completed  in  1787,  has 


194 


Ari'ENDIX. 


i. 


II  t« 


been  nullified  by  interpolated  monarchies.  The  Land  systcui 
has  crushed  and  plundered  the  continental  people  with  the 
brutalizinp;  pressure  of  mediicval  feudalism.  The  Indian  system 
has  walled  up,  as  in  a  Bastile,  the  whole  central  meridian  of  our 
continent.  Forced  out  artificially  upon  the  flanks,  wo  have  seen 
our  pioneer  energies  driven  iu  fra<;^nients  into  ^''' jrida,  into  Texas, 
into  California,  into  Orcj;on,  into  Minnesota.  "We  behold  on  tho 
one  hand  a  tier  of  artificial  seaboard  States,  isolated  upon  the 
maritime  slope;  on  the  other  hand,  the  continental  centre,  cU 
immense  disc  of  howling  wilderness. 

Foreign  wars  have  been  waged,  federal  revenues  and  patronage 
exhausted,  federal  law  and  power  stretched  out  to  every  device 
of  tyranny,  tho  federal  constitution  violated  in  every  sacred  prin- 
ciple, to  erect  this  monarchical  seaboard  power,  and  establi.'ih  it 
in  perpetual  dominance  over  the  continent.  For  the  centre,  civil 
wars,  civil  discords,  false  geography,  calumnies,  every  form  of 
meretricious  and  deceptive  political  agitation,  have  been  suici- 
dally fomented.  The  foundations  of  the  Union,  lost  in  the  centre 
and  scattered  around  an  invisible  circumference;  the  Union  itself, 
incessantly  assailed  and  perpetually  menaced,  has  seemed  to 
approach  the  twilight  of  its  existence,  and,  lost  to  the  guardian 
care  of  tho  people,  has  been  in  suspense  between  the  infuriated 
passions  of  extreme  sectional  fanatics.  Our  great  country  demands 
a  period  of  stem  virtue,  of  holy  zeal,  of  regenerating  patriotism, 
of  devoted  citizens. 

It  is  to  the  people  of  the  great  central  State  of  Missouri  that 
I  speak.  To  exalt  their  intrepid  enthusiasm  is  my  aim.  Open 
the  track  across  the  plateau  to  the  other  sea,  and  we  are  abso- 
lutely the  leaders  of  the  world,  heading  the  column  to  the  oriental 
shores.  With  us  are  the  continental  eagles  and  the  continental 
cause,  immortalized  by-  the  purity  of  Washington,  illuminated  by 
the  wisdovn  of  Jefi'erson,  vindicated  and  restored  by  the  illustrious 
Jackson.  Let  us  condense  around  these  eagles  and  advance. 
It  is  the  predestiied  mission  of  mankind,  confided  to  America  to 
fulfil,  to  our  generation,  to  complete. 

Day  dawns,  the  vapors  round  the  mountains  curled 
Burst  into  morn,  and  light  awakes  the  world ! 


wmmw 


